Are you on interlibrary loan?

I've said it before, librarians as a group are not all that funny. So it surprised me that some of these pick up lines are actually good. Maybe I should try a few and see how they work out.

Plays on the typical:

Are you on interlibrary loan? Because, baby, you're outta this library!
No one believes I am a librarian, maybe you should try to check me out.

The suggestive:

Let's play search engine: enter your terms and see if you get positive results.
I may not be a cataloger, but I bet I can find a place to fit you in.
My mom was a librarian, she taught me everyone should have access to my stacks

The true:

My budget just got cut, buy me a drink
Hey baby, wanna go knit?
You're someone I could really blog about.

Fuzzy Friends Part 2

First, why hasn’t anyone commented on my first post?. Hmmph!

Second, how the hell do search engines work?! Really! I thought I was starting to get the hang of things. And the fuzzy friends have thrown me for a loop. If you notice, I clearly write “Baby animals and their fuzzy friends” and “baby animals & their fuzzy friends” just in case.

Somehow the blog search has picked up my post from the 1centshort blog, but not this one. And the regular google hasn’t picked up either.

I may have to resort to inventing words

I don’t get it, I may never get it. I realize that how things really work involve many closely guarded proprietary secrets. But if anyone can recommend me some articles or a book written in nice middle language somewhere between the internet for dummies and pages of algorithms, I’d definitely appreciate it. When I was writing my paper on recommender systems, I tried reading through the articles with algorithms (since these are the ones that have actual factual information, not just anecdotes), but after the introduction they were really over my head.

I may have to finally break down and take an intro CS class. But I worry that it wouldn’t satisfy me, and I’d be even more frustrated after realizing how much I really don’t know. I think what I really need to do is marry a programmer. He could teach me bits along the way, but mostly he’d just program my vision of the perfect database with the perfect search mechanism, and together we’d take searching by storm. Or maybe I just want to boss someone around.

For other reasons, I’m also slightly considering some kind of web class. But I think that might really be too painful.

~~~

In other news: Just in time for the end of Banned Books Week, he ALA finally (sort of) sent me my BBW bracelet. I ordered 1 adult and 1 child bracelet. They're back ordered on the adult one, so they just sent the child one. The bracelet is approximately 1/2" x 4" and they sent it in a 11" x 13" padded mailer-- kinda weird. Also, I had my doubts when I ordered it that it would fit. And it doesn't. I'm going to have to restring it with some beads in between, or something.

Battle Over Model War Planes

Usually I don't pay much attention to news about defense contractors, or children building model planes. But I saw this on the news, and couldn't even believe it.

The defense contractors want royalties from model planes.

1. It never occured to me that you could just make model kits without the original's permission.
2. Has model making grown to such great heights that it's worth it to push this issue?

There are thousands of model enthusiasts who have a stake in this war over warplanes. As the battle lines have been drawn between two of this nation's favorite pastimes — making models — and making money.

Really?? Model making is one of the nation's favorite pastimes??

Texas Judge Orders Teen Barred From Sex

this story is rather disturbing, especially without knowing any of the facts (including Texas' age of consent). And there's a whole lot of sticky morals involved.

The news story reads, "Judge Lauri Blake made the ruling that bars the girl from having sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school." It's so comforting to see third parties invoking the "if you live under my roof, you live by my rules," demand.

So, if the girl runs away from home or drops out of school, she can have as much sex as her drugged out teenaged body can handle.

Martha's Apprentice

As it turns out Martha's firing phrase is not "you just don't fit in," it's "Goodbye." It seems, she's been watching too much Weakest Link.

I'm not sure I can stay on for the whole season, the show is pretty awful.

I do have a renewed interest in becoming a casting director for a reality show though. It seems like great fun. I'm pretty good with first impressions, and with typing people. I think I have all the skills to be fantastic. And my daily conversations could go like this:

Which crazy do you think is crazier?
Do you think he has potential to snap?
Do you think she'll take her clothes off by the end of the show?
...

Emily Post would not approve.

Baby Animals & Their Fuzzy Friends

“Classical music accompanies video of furry, fuzzy and feathered friends at the farm, zoo and home. These animal antics will delight both the young and the young-at-heart.”

Being of completely sound mind and body last night, I turned on the TV a few minutes before Martha Stewart’s Apprentice. There were commercials on all the channels I usually watch and I turned to the guide. And there it was on the OC PBS station: Baby Animals and Their Fuzzy Friends. “Surely, this is not a real show. Surely, it’s a mistake. Surely, I must have eaten some bad pork and this is a hallucination.” I think. But I click over, and on my screen are teenaged gorillas frolicking. Obviously I’m disappointed, I hate monkey looking things, and they weren’t really babies, but I guess they were fuzzy. I keep watching anyway. The song ends, and up comes a green title screen, it says what we’ll see next (Farm Animals) and the name of the classical song they’ll be playing. Then we see polar bears, penguins, kittens, “four dogs and a cat,” and finally “dinner and a bath.” I make sure to call my family into the room to confirm that baby animals and friends are indeed on the TV.

Unlike every other PBS show in existence, this one doesn’t send you to pbs.org or something to buy a copy of the program. But, Amazon has it, of course (someone actually bought a copy between when I looked it up last night, and now). It can be yours for only $15, 27 minutes of pure, unadulterated animal cuteness, with ugly gorillas thrown in. It might have to be mine.

I should mention this is not a nature program. All of these animals were either on a farm or, in a house (kittens) or at the zoo. It seems this quality piece of cinema was made, or sponsored, or something by KQED, SF’s PBS station. It seems likely that it was shot at the SF zoo. I’ve been to the SF zoo, but I can’t confirm. I think I was too busy being really amused by the mating meerkats, I didn't pay too much attention to the surroundings. I’m sure some intern was doing some editing one day, found some old footage, a few controlled substances were had, and the rest is history. Cute history!

My favorite part is the footage of the zookeeper throwing penguins into the water. It looks fun!

I have to say I’m very disappointed with the blogsphere’s coverage of this important piece of work. Only one live journal was found through the google blog search. And I’m not going to link to it because one of the commenter’s avatars is a picture of unicorn, um, mating. Although the post is pretty good and takes them to task for including a non-African antelope in their “African animals” montage. And then there’s this girl, who is lucky enough to have her tivo recognize the value of Baby Animals & Their Fuzzy Friends. As soon as I post this, I’m going to get ready for the deluge of rabid baby animal fans looking for a blog post. It’s no boingboing, but it’s something.

Programming note for Tom and Zack: Near the bottom of the programming guide (only 1 away from Baby Animals and their Fuzzy Friends) is a listing for Guns, Germs and Steel. Check your local listings.

People Seeing Red Over Pink Locker Room

This story seems to be missing a few details. I'm not sure I really understand it. But oddly colored locker rooms tickle me pink.

Banned Books 2005

I’m completely bored right now, and it occurred to me that it’s like 3 days in to banned book week and I posted anything about it. Mostly, I have nothing new to say from last year. But, like pirate day, I’d feel remiss if I didn’t blog something. And now that I’m a card carrying member of the ALA and CLA it’s probably my duty, or something, to toe the party line.

I’m not even reading challenged books this year though. I’m kinda doing the opposite, and will be visiting the library today to pick up some etiquette books, and learn myself some manners. But it’s important that books stay in the hands of the people…When I’m established as a librarian and can’t get fired easily, I’m going to plan a banned book even at a bar. Really, what’s better than alcohol and reading naughty bits of books aloud.

In other special day news: It seems that it’s Google’s birthday. Remember when it was new? I do, that was 7 years ago. Gosh, I’m old.

Oh goodness

I will have a job forever if people can't learn the differences between types of information. Good security, I guess.

I guess this explains all the hits to the www.1centshort.blogspot.com from people searching for brand names.

Shoppers use blogs for bargains
Almost half, 49%, thought blogs were as credible as articles in magazines, 46% thought web journals were as trustworthy as newspapers and 40% thought web logs and TV news programmes were just as reliable as each other.

a little bit of living a little bit of growing all adds up to you

Please excuse this moment of self-indulgence/reflection. And feel free to comment if you see something that I don’t see about myself.

As you all know, I’m deathly afraid of getting old. If you listen to me babble instead of just tuning me out, the way one should, you’d hear me say things like “It’s a good thing I’m not a librarian, because then I’d be a spinster librarian.” (This is apparently the worst fate imaginable for moral women, as seen in It’s a Wonderful Life.) But, according to my elders, I have no idea what old is.

And I thought I did a pretty good job of growing up in recent years past. But apparently I’m still changing. And I’m very confused by this.

Starting in first or second grade I was a shy, shy, SHY, child. When called upon in class I would barely speak loud enough for the teacher to hear me. I don’t know why I was this way, I was a smart kid and was reading well above my grade level. Things continued on this way for quite a while. I blame this and my predisposition to this day to not talk to strangers on my upbringing. Everyone always says “don’t talk to strangers,” but no one tells you when it’s okay to talk. I also realize, I’m a bit of a snob, and really, the unwashed masses are not for me

So, like a reasonable person, as I grew up I realized talking in class is no big deal. When it got to high school and college and intelligent class participation was being graded, I tried to say something worthwhile every meeting. But still, I hated fighting for the spotlight, and often kept my comments to myself. My senior seminar prof., often called on me because he said he could see my gears spinning, but I wasn’t saying anything. This was good for me, because it was a legitimate to change the subject without having to do it myself and seem like a jerk. I didn’t have many presentations in college, but I never really minded them, they were mostly a lot easier than typing out 15 pages on Jane Austen (bleh!).

So, flash forward to 2004. I start library school convinced that I’m way out of my league, and will be surrounded by so many older and more experienced people. But my first semester turns out to be easy, and I realize I’m totally in my league. It’s a little lonely not going to class and all, but that’s how everyone else is too

And Spring 2005 I have a class that actually meets almost every other week. The prof is great, and Finally we’re getting to know the people we have class with. Class participation is a big part of the grade, and I’m really happy to participate. We talk about things I care about and I make valid points. I take him again for the summer, and am also very happy, and chatty.

That brings me to now. I’m taking business reference and it’s making me think about things I don’t usually think about, and I’m starting to catch on to some financial things that were a complete mystery to me before. On the 3rd week of the semester we had to give a group presentation. As it turns out, librarians hate presenting, and my cavalier attitude toward public speaking will take me far. Not only that, but I totally kicked ass, and was actually complimented by 2 other students who weren’t in my group. My attitude toward public speaking is as informal as I can get away with. Since the assignment was to pretend we were presenting to undergrads, informal was my friend. I ended up cracking jokes on the spot, and they were actually well received. The class is actually really easily graded, but since I’m pushing myself, I’m getting a fair amount out of it.

My other class is not so cool, I knew I shouldn’t be taking it, I didn’t even pick it as one of my top choices. But I let other people tell me how much this class changed their life and thought it might be worth while. I’m never listening to other people again. I think there’s a generation gap or something.

I could write another post on all the reasons why the class is so retarded. But I’ll stick to how it affects me. Me, the shy 7 year old who wouldn’t speak loud enough to be heard from across the room has grown into, as Lydia so kindly noted, the class smart-ass. I don’t want to be the class smart ass. I’m mostly trying to find some kind of fulfillment. And I’ve decided the professor hates me because I keep asking legitimate questions about the future of databases, and she will only respond kindly to functional questions. Also, I had the audacity to point out a mistake (lie not just a typo) in the book, and instead of treating this legitimately, she goes on a 3 paragraph tangent on how great the book is. We get graded on discussion board participation, yet there is no meaningful conversation, just functional questions about punctuation and syntax. Because that’s what the class is, in depth on how to use current databases today, even though it’s likely they won’t stay in their current form for very long.

So, friends, when did this happen? How did sweet, innocent me, who more than anything, knows how to keep her mouth shut, become the smart ass? (I'm sure it involved you boys, somehow. So thanks (not entirely sure if the thanks is sarcastic or not)) I'm no longer shy. But I'm still reserved. Unless I'm just reserved by habit, and really I'm not. I am confused.

I think the words of Peter Brady are in order here:

Autumn turns to winter and then winter turns to spring,
its not just a season to know its goes for everything.
clouds can turn to rain and then it just might snow
You gotta take lesson from mother nature and if you do you'll know.

[chorus]
Well its time to change
then its time to change
move by the time come along for the ride, don’t you see
when its time to change you've got to rearrange
move your heart to what your gonna be.
sha na na na na na na sha na na na na na

day by day its hard to see the changes you've been through
a little bit of living a little bit of growing all adds up to you
every boys a man inside
a girls a women too
and if you wanna reach your destiny its what you've got to do

[chorus]
Well its time to change
when its time to change you've got to rearrange
move your heart to what your’re gonna be.
sha na na na na na na na, sha na na na

You thought it was superstition

Maybe left handed people do have the devil inside. I don't know why these scientists didn't offer that as a possibility:

Left-handed women's risk of breast cancer higher-study

Left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause

Shecky’s Girls Night Out

Shecky’s


Where to start? I decided to take a nap instead of jetting down to the area early. This meant I got stuck in some traffic. I was stuck behind this little sports car for like 15 mins. And every time we came to a complete stop, the couple inside would kiss. This was good for them, passed the time very pleasantly. But I was annoyed. And it kept my lane moving even slower.

I was somehow under the impression that Shecky’s was a sample sale and there’d be tons of nice, expensive stuff and cut rate prices. (I’m sure that’s my own fault and not Shecky’s) Turns out, it’s more of a massive boutique, or bizarro craft fair. It was cool, but not as good as I expected. And not really worth the $40 in admission and parking I paid.

I arrived just after 5, and the doors, and my friends, hadn’t quite arrived yet. Immediately a panic swept over me, “oh my gosh, too many women, the estrogen is choking me.” Never in my life had I seen so many shiny purses all in one place. I was all alone in a sea of women, who might claw my eyes out for the last pair of earrings. But then, one of the hot guy workers wandered by offering lavender scented cold towels (cold towels, I’ve seen hot towels, but cold?). I decided I could hold my own in the crowd. And the check in line wasn’t unpleasant. I got myself a goodie bag (more on that later) and an entire complimentary cup full of stoli vodka (with a splash of Midori) played a game of dig dug on the joystick thing you plug into your tv and relaxed. (I don’t know much about video games, but I do have Dig Dug for my Atari, and I have to say, my 20some year old Atari joystick is more responsive than the thing I was using. Although, playing Dig Dug gave me a lot of joy, I might buy one anyway.)

Midori, is a fantastic sponsor, they also gave lovely Midori colored glowstick bracelets. Amstel light, (the other alcohol based sponsor) only offered hot guys roaming the room offering you beer. I’ve never tried Amstel light, but I generally believe that abstaining from things with “light” in the name is the way to go.

bathroom around 9pm, full of empty bottles and disgarded speigel catalogs

As you may well know, my favorite shoes for the last 2 years have been my Steve Madden kitten heel flip flops. However, as sponsors, they were rather disappointing. I didn’t win any free shoes.

And then there was the boutique where either the designers, or the designer/manufacturers were selling their wares. There was one girl selling decent, and retarded knit caps, that half my friends could make. I forgot to take a picture of the one with the dinosaur (retarded not good). And there was also the ballerina tulle wearing girl with her super-expensive I’ve-sewn-a-shaped-piece-of-felt-onto-a-classic-girl-shirt-buy-me-for-$65 booth. And not only were they expensive, but Beth makes better shirts than that in her sleep. In general all the clothing was not my style, and except for the $5 pantaloons booth (I somehow managed to not buy them). There wasn’t anything I really wanted except the one shirt that didn’t come in my size and the BEST THING EVER.

So there was this little Honduran gay man wearing a skirt, tank and super tiny tie. http://www.dmerlincastell.com/ (the website is crap (read: flashed), and I can’t find my thing on it, but the “about” page is pretty good. “My name is Merlin, and I am a magician,” he says. And really, I’ve never met a little Honduran gay man wearing a skirt before, so I’m inclined to trust him, since I have no reason not to trust him. And he makes wonderful brocade things (and horrible shapeless knit things). He makes “corset jackets.” They are not for “going to the gym” they are for “walking like this, like a runway” (and he postures like only a gay man could). So there’s a burgundy/ gold thing, he says it’s based on 12th century design. And really, it’s amazing. I try on the large, and I can’t really raise my arms all the way, so I tell him it’s too small, and he says “no, it’s too big, try on a medium, it’s supposed to fit like a corset,” and after protesting, he dresses me in the medium, ties the ties, and while it’s not so easy to breathe, I look amazing, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever worn, ever. I can’t raise my arms any higher than my chest, but wearing a thing like that men will fight each other to lift things for me. I think if I’d have done my hair, the sight of me in the mirror wearing that thing would have been too much for me to resist. Practicality be damned! I don’t need to breathe, I can hire someone to do that for me. I don’t have a picture of me wearing it. I did not want to offend the man who makes such amazing stuff.

I got my make up done by the crappiest girl at the makeup designory booth I had to try it, because designory is not a word, yet they’re allowed a .edu domain. They were selling pretty decently priced palettes, but my girl put my make up on without telling me what she was doing, what colors she was using and generally being un-helpful. I probably would have bought one of the palettes, if I had any clue what she used on me. My eyes looked great, although I definitely could have lived without the slimy lip gloss.

A question I’ve never asked before is “when is a sex toy worth $300.” Generally, I think the answer is never, unless it’s also a piece of furniture or something. But when does a sex toy cost $300—according to the people at Booty Parlor, when it’s pink and has a tail. Yes, a tail. Picture here (Not work friendly) and there’s also the rhinestone encrusted one. Good Vibes may have well seasoned lesbians, but Booty Parlor has seemed to carve its younger, pinker niche.

I bought some fantastic jewelry, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise.

I didn’t spend too much money, I had a pretty good time. It was worth it the first time, but I don’t think I’d go back again. And now that I’ve found my favorite new jewelry designer, and her website is going live in the next few weeks, I don’t need to find any new things.

Swag

So much stuff I don't need including nail polish, hair spray, assorted other toiletries, a Danielle Steel book from 1987 (not pictured), a ficiton book published by MTV, Atkins Granola bars (with splenda) and a CD from a hip-hop violinist. Be prepared for a review as soon as I listen to it.


And, lets not forget the ugliest thing ever. I think it's an ankle bracelet. I think it's made of nylon, like the weaving into potholders nylon. I'm sure it makes me cringe.Go here for more ugly things: www.trendsrus.com

Martha

Y’all know I *heart* reality tv, mostly because it’s as far from my reality as I can imagine.

And the first season of the Apprentice, I didn’t miss an episode. Amazing things were happening on tv. But it didn’t take me long to start questioning it. You see, what makes for good TV, doesn’t necessarily make for a good leader of a high finance company. Donald Trump doesn’t sell lemonade to construction workers, that’s not even a skill I would admire. Do you want a retail store clerk? Or do you want someone to be proficient with the contracts to HIRE construction companies…

I've been so preoccupied, I almost forgot to watch the new one that started last night.

Martha Stewart’s new apprentice is no different. They have a George look-alike, and Martha’s daughter (who wishes that anyone but Martha was her mother) takes over for Carolyn. They don’t have a “boardroom” in the Martha building, she says. Although they gather in a conference room with a long table that will be the boardroom, and except for the difference between light glass and The Donald’s dark wood, there’s no difference. Martha, the ultimate hostess is nothing but cheerful and gracious at first. The suite the contestants are staying in is much more homey than the previous apprentice, although I question if it’s decked out with Martha’s Kmart line. She leaves them a handwritten note and a bunch of champagne, fruit and cheese. “To Good Things,” they toast. And the next morning when they get “the call,” it’s Martha herself.

This is what she does. The ultimate hostess gives everything a personal touch. And if you have boundless amounts of money, you can do that.

So, the challenge is issued. Make a childrens book, in like, a day. Update a classic fairy tale to be relevant to kids today. What does this have to do with anything? I have no idea. And, if you haven’t noticed, fairy tales are pretty much timeless, that’s why they keep telling them….They have to write the story, get it illustrated and read it to a focus group of kids. I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to hire an executive for my multi-conglomerate, I wouldn’t ask about their ability to write books. That’s what authors are for.

But the contestants don’t care. Obviously they’re all crazy, because who would want to work for crazy-lady Martha? I think her public falling outs have been public enough. I know I’ve hated her since that horrible day when she forced all of America to watch her cut confetti with a rotary cutter, like it was some amazing skill only she could bestow to us. But I wanted this show to be good.

The ever perfect hostess, does not fire people. She tells them they just don’t fit in. And then handwrites a thank-you note, or something. Her and Miss Manners, the only 2 people left in world who care about handwritten notes. But the issue really is with telling people they don’t fit in. Martha of all people, you’d think, wouldn’t want corporate clones. She needs the creative people to keep feeding her projects so she can look smart on TV, or else we’re in for a whole ‘nother round of confetti.

I was hoping this show would fall in line with the fabulous Craft Corner Deathmatch. Instead it’s just another group of business minded people bickering with each other and embarrassing themselves on TV. But I’ll watch it, unless it gets too horrible. I’m going to try to stay away from Trump’s show this time, though.

Work your cares away

I realize that no one cares about my fraggle posts. But I’d feel like a quitter if I didn’t finish.

Disc 4

#19 The Great Radish Famine The trash heap can’t sleep at night because she really wants the fraggles, doozers and gorgs to get along and realize they’re not all that different from each other. So, instead of telling them and talking things out, she makes all the radishes disappear. Radishes, you see, are the backbone of the very existence of all these creatures. Fraggles gather them to eat. The doozers take some from the fraggles, grind them into dust and make the doozer sticks (this is the first episode where this is explained, and it’s adorable). And if doozers can’t work and build, they’re just not doozers. The gorgs make a concoction out of the radishes that keeps them from becoming invisible. And none of the creatures really know this about the other.

But when times are hard, people never come together, they just blame one another. And the same is true for the inhabitants of Fraggle Rock.

The doozers fare the best. I don’t know what they eat, but it’s not radishes. So someone teaches them to knit, and they stay up beat, productive, and more adorable than you can imagine in tiny knit goods. The fraggles, however, are starving. Their primary source of food, radishes and doozer constructions have been depleted. And the gorgs, they’re heads are starting to disappear. And when Mokey ventures out to the trash heap, the trash heap says if she can gather in the garden with a doozer and a gorg, the radishes will come back. The trash heap has delusions of them all getting along, when of course they don’t. But still, she gives back the radishes. I think the lesson to be learned is about how things are more complicated than they may seem

No more is done with the doozers and the knitting. But there really should be

#20 The Garden Plot Fraggle rock is threatened from it’s two outlets to the outside. Sprocket is trying to get in, and Jr. Gorg is trying to smash the stupid rock he stumbled on. And the fraggles split up, to see what they can do about it. And each one is defeated.

We get a bit of back story from the gorgs. The rock on the gorg side that keeps the opening to the fraggle cave is called “kissing rock” and it’s where Ma and Pa gorg first kissed, some few hundred years ago. And one day, it’ll be where Jr gets his first kiss. Ignoring the fact that no one wants to think about the gorgs kissing, it’s nice to see them have a bit more emotional side. Because they really only exist to be large, dumb, slow and threaten fraggles. I don’t really remember the lesson in this episode.

#21 Gobo's Discovery Gobo thinks he’s lost the will to be an explorer. He remembers that he wanted to be a juggler when he was a kid, but Uncle Traveling Matt would only hear “explorer.” Juggling, of course, is a noble profession. But when needed, of course he shows his courage and saves his friends. Valuable lessons about things we want to do, are made to do, are born to do.

#22 Mokey's Funeral Mokey is an artist, and the fraggles don’t think she’s any good with building things, and they wont’ let her help with the boat. Meanwhile Jr has set a trap to catch any fraggle that ventures out of the cage. Since it’s Mokey’s job to collect the radishes, she figures it’s her job to figure out the trap. And she’s mad, because she heard the other fraggles making fun of her.

She comes up with a fantastic plan. She makes a dummy of herself (that only an artist could do) and puts it in the cage. So Jr moves the cage away from the opening, and she can get the radishes. But Jr sees the lifeless fraggle doll, and thinks he killed her. And we see another, softer side of the Gorgs, who really value life. And taking the life of any creature is a terrible thing, even one as small as a fraggle. And he holds a funeral. The other fraggles don’t know about the plan, and they see the funeral while peeking out from under their rock, and they think they killed Mokey, and prepare to steal her corpse for burying on fraggle grounds. She reveals herself, they all forgive each other, Jr finds out it’s only a doll. It’s actually a pretty good episode, full of lots of real emotion. And for the second time in one season we deal with the realities of death

#23 The Beast of Bluerock Having not learned any lessons all season long we completely rehash everything. 1. Red and Gobo are at odds, she wants to have a diving competition, Gobo has to go exploring because the gem of bluerock is only visible 1 day a year. 2. Wembly is stuck in the middle. Will he dive, will he explore. 3. Gobo leaves his pick-axe behind, and Wembly must overcome his fears and set off alone to give it to him.

And it all works out in the end, because after conquering his fears Wembly meets up with Gobo, they see the thing, and get magically transported back to the main cave, and win the dive competition.

#24 New Trash Heap in Town Fraggles apparently have communal dreams. And the one night Mokey decides not to sleep, they all have a dream where the trash heap appears and tells them to look within themselves for the answers to their problems. But, by nature, fraggles are impressionable pack animals and prone to mob mentality. Since Mokey has stayed up all night to paint some hairy worm (something no one has done before), the fraggles (the whole lot of them, not just the 5 friends) appoint her the new trash heap. And unlike the normal trash heap which they have to go through the gorg’s garden to see, there’s nothing stopping them from asking advice. And they stop thinking for themselves. Of course, only Gobo sees this until it gets ridiculous. And finally Mokey agrees, gives some ridiculous advice, and people stop listening. And a valuable lesson about thinking for yourself is learned by all.

Truly un-outrageous

Or maybe outrageous in the "I'm outraged," sense.

Both Jem DVD sets are out of print. The only way to buy them is to pay the inflated prices on Amazon, Half.com and Ebay. I'll do a bit more poking around this weekend, but it seems like the end of the line. Rhino has completely excised it from the website.

I've learned my lesson and will buy DVDs impulsively from now on.

Sadly, this out of printness makes me believe that the rest of of Jem will never come to DVD. There are fantastic episodes rumored to be out there. There's Hollywood Jem, and the wedding, and so much more 80's fashion.

Down at Fraggle Rock

It’s a rather gloomy, if blogging about fraggles doesn’t cheer me up, then the day will probably be a complete loss.

Disc 4

I made it through all 4 episode discs, and halfway through the bonus features. What I didn’t realize about muppets is that the puppeteering and voices are done at the same time by the same person (although often a 2nd person is called in to help with an extra hand or tail or something). This adds another layer to the performance, and explains why once you work for the muppet shop you keep doing it.

#13 We Love You, Wembley: This is one of the best episodes, and has one of the best songs. Everyone wants Wembly’s help with something, and they want it all at once. And at first he tries to be all things to all people fraggles, But that leads to him taking a small spill. And while he’s a bit unconscious, a new fraggle, a girl named Lou, comes across him, and helps him out. And they become friends. The conversation between Wembly and his old friends goes something like this:

Wembly: I met this cool new fraggle
Gobo: What’s his name?
Wembly: HER name is Lou
Gobo: Yeah, I know her. She’s a stand up fraggle
Mokey: HER! OH WEMBLY! Do you know what this mean? You’re in loooooove. What are we going to do about it.
Wembly: Do about it? Love?

Wembly sings his Wimp Song

And Mokey, the stupid hippy, drags him to the Trash Heap for advice. And she gives him love potion #9. And then they get caught by a Gorg, so of course they use the love potion, and then it accidently gets spilled into the well that flows into the Fraggle ponds, and for like a minute all the fraggles are in love with Wembly. Then it wears off. And Mokey drags Lou over to Wembley, who has grown a bit of backbone. Wembly’s not in love with Lou, he just met her, and likes her and wants to spend more time with her, because she cares, and asks what he wants to do… And so they spend more time together doing fraggle things, and not all that mushy stuff that Mokey wants. And Wembly reprises his wimp song, with much better lyrics. Learn to Love a wimp “And how could anyone/ Ever have any fun/ If she never learned to love a wimp” And the nerd gets the girl, and my heart sings. In addition to that, we learn a valuable lesson about taking your friends for granted. (thanks friends, I don’t take you for granted)

#14 The Challenge: This episode kinda sucked. Attention whore, Red, is grumpy because Gobo is the leader. And as the friends go to the trash heap for help, they get captured under a wooden bucket by a Gorg. And only through working together can they free themselves. It would have been a total loss of an episode if doc didn’t get his very first computer, possibly and Apple II? And for some reason he plays a game that involves the dying pac-man sound. I had no idea it was such a unique sound, until I sat there for a few seconds, trying to figure out why it sounded familiar.

#15 I Don't Care: Boober shows some backbone and throws a hissyfit because the fraggles are so used to ignoring his crazy conspiracy theories that they pretty much ignore all his feelings. And we learn a valuable lesson about respecting everyone’s feelings, and not taking your friends for granted, no matter how crazy they are.#16 Capture the Moon: The fraggles, you see, don’ t understand quite how things work. And once a month, when the Gorg moon is full, is they only time they can see the reflection in their pond. But they think it’s their own special moon. And on moon day, Jr Gorg accidently gets stuck in the well, and blocks the reflection, so they think he stole it. So the fraggles decide to steal it back. But they realize something like the moon can’t be captured and held by the very few, it needs to stay wild for all to enjoy. And there are some really good hippy moon songs.

#17 Marooned: Seriously, episodes like this really illustrate that they weren’t trying to build a show only for children. Red and Boober, who never really had much to say to each other, get stuck in a cave in on his birthday. Red who’s usually a type A personality doesn’t really know what to do when she’s actually threatened. And Boober has been preparing for his demise for ever, and has resigned to death long ago. And as the air is running out, and the fraggles actually say something like “I’m feeling tired, and giddy—that means the air is running out and we don’t have long to live” Red actually admits she’s scared, and Boober comforts her. Boober also admits that he’s not really as grim on the inside as he is on the outside. And they sing a song, which if I was a crying person, would make me cry. The Friendship Song

Of course their friends save them, and they reprise the song, a bit happier, but still mushy enough to make a crying person cry.

#18 The Minstrels: This episode features Jim Henson as Cantus the leader of the wandering Minstrels, supposedly his last new role before his 1990 death. And he’s really good. The Minstrels record the song of every fraggle, and travel on to the next clan. And Attention whore, Red, pipes up and becomes the song leader. She has to find her song, within herself and will sing it first. But of course, she’s the least in tune with herself of all fraggles. And most of the fraggles find their songs quickly, they’re a musical species, you see, it’s in their blood.

Cantus has a magical pipe and when you blow into it, it plays your song. But only if you already know it yourself. And in the middle of the night Red steals it, so she doesn’t embarrass herself the next morning. And then it gets stolen by a gorg. Blah, blah, blah. They get it back. Red finally finds her song.

Jim Henson as Cantus, and the music really make this a much more powerful episode than anyone can describe in words. They do a whole interview segment on in, on the bonus disc, and you can see how the people, still today, are in awe of Jim.

Up next: knitting doozers

So much for 100% dangerous

School Athlete Has Bear for a Playmate

Happy Pirate Day

I didn't read a gazillion library blogs last year, but it turns out, librarians love pirates. So I guess I'd better jump on the bandwagon.

So, celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day any way you feel it in your heart.

I'll be celebrating by looking up cheap cruises I can take.

And I'll leave you with the worst pirate joke I've hear this morning:

Why did the pirate send his wench to the sex therapist?
Because she couldn't have an oRRRRRR-gasm.

R.

Let the Music Play

Disc 2

I have to admit that this disc isn’t nearly as good at disc one. But I have high hopes for disc 3

#7 I Want to be You, rather amuses me. Red, is the sporty one, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that her hair looks like pom-poms. And Red is also an attention whore. But it seems that everyone wants to listen to Mokey’s crap poetry instead of watching Red do her tricks. So, sick of that stupid hippy getting all the attention, Red decides to be just like Mokey. She lets her hair down from the pom-poms and dons a frumpy librarian burlap sweater, and starts to wax poetic. Until the others notice. And we learn 2 valuable lessons. 1. always be your self. 2. there’s no reason to value one skill over another, poetry is just as valuable as diving into ponds. (and according to me, they're also both equally worthless)

#8 The Terrible Tunnel. I can’t remember the lesson of this one, it must not have been very good. Maybe it was something about facing fears, or believing your friends. It was only memorable for the fantastic muppet creepy crawlies, and a really good song at the end. The fraggles find the “terrible tunnel” from which no fraggles have ever returned alive. And they return alive, changing the story.

#9 The Lost Treasure of the Fraggles. You can imagine how this one goes. Red and Gobo find a treasure map, and being a greedy attention whore, Red doesn’t want to tell the other fraggles. The treasure is supposed to be a million diamonds. But you see, fraggles don’t have much use for diamonds, unless they’d make great skipping stones. But when the map leads them to the Gorg’s castle, they call in their friends. And they find the treasure, take it back to the fraggle cave. And the prize is none other than a magical glowing music box. Light comes from out of that circular thing with holes in it that makes the box play, like a million diamonds. And the treasure, and the greatest gift the fraggles have is music.

#10 Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk. Gobo gets trapped in Doc’s workshop because Doc finally decided to board up the hole, and the fraggles spend the whole episode trying to figure out how to get him out. Boober, the paranoid, yet realistic one tells the others and goes back to the hole, but one lone fraggle isn’t strong enough to tear down the boards. Red and Wembly go to consult the Trash Heap, and she gives them her usual useless advice “don’t cry over spilt milk,” because a few seconds earlier she spilled the last of her milk. And of course the fraggles take it literally—where they get milk, I don’t know. And stupid hippy, Mokey, just decides to mull the situation for an extremely long while, instead of acting. And then she sees the doozer catapult, and requisitions it without even bothering to ask the doozers (who a few episodes earlier she was so concerned with). And they all take their methods to the boarded up hole, and, individually they don’t work. Spilling milk, and then not crying over it, doesn’t have much impact. Neither does worrying. And it’s only when they work together, and boober accidentally gets catapulted through the board that Gobo can go safely back to fraggle rock.

#11 Catch the Tail by the Tiger. You see, catching a tiger by the tail would be the easy way to do things. And they sing a whole song using backwards metaphors. In this episode Uncle Traveling Matt doesn’t send his usual postcards, and Gobo starts to worry, and decides he has to go into outer space to find him. Of course outer space is the scariest place for a fraggle to go, just going into Doc’s room is enough to give a fraggle a panic attack. So, all the fraggles are worried about him. But Red disguises her worry with contempt. “you’re not REALLY going into outer space, when will you drop this charade” (okay, she probably doesn’t say charade, but you get the picture). And she’s even more of a jerk than she usually is to him for the entire episode. And after a very touching moment between Red and Mokey (that Gobo never sees), Gobo comes back and announces he got his poscard, and doesn’t have to go. Like the trash heap said, Matt just had the flu. Except for the cool song, this was not a very good episode.

#12, The Finger of Light Once a year, or something, on Ruler of the Rock day, the elder Fraggle calls for a game. Fraggles must follow him over a perilous path, and whoever is left at the end has a chance to make 3 decrees for the betterment of all fraggles. The finger of light will shine down on the one chosen at random. So the fraggles go, Gobo, Red, and Mokey (just to watch, because she’s too much of a stupid hippie to want any power), along with some new, creepy, gimpy fraggle who we’re told wants to start a cult, but we never find out exactly the wishes he wants. I don’t really know the point of this character, and I hope I never see him again because he’s creepy and ugly, the 1-2 punch of my dislikes. So, of course Mokey wins, and she tries to turn it down, but can’t. And she accidentally wastes her first 2 on “please don’t stand on my tail” and “please stop shouting.”
And after seeing all the picket sign holding fraggles posturing for this or the other thing, she realizes she can’t please all fraggles all the time, because someone will always want something different. So for her last decree she orders Wembly to balance a pickle on his nose. Everyone rejoices, and balances pickles themselves. You see, what’s the point of doing things if they’re not fun? This was also not a very good episode.

I haven’t finished disc 3 yet, but there’s a super-good episode involving Wembly. So I hope disc 2 was just a bad patch, and it gets better again. Stay tuned for the next chapter.

a toast, to absent friends

I knew I had a good idea, no matter what people told me.

And now, that these people took my personalized toaster idea, I have no reason to live. Be sure to click through to all 3 pictures.

Worries for another day

I finally changed my desk at work, so now it doesn’t smell like the bathroom. And I kept my favorite chair. Also, I gave a fantastic presentation on Saturday, and turned in a rather harrowing assignment yesterday. So I’m a bit satiated. And I’ll probably spend tonight getting through disc 2 of Fraggle Rock.

And now I’m ready to start my reviewing.

I really like Muppets, I really like the way they move. I especially love Fraggles because they have such great hair! It waves and moves and has a life of it’s own. I don’t know why motion is such a pet of mine, but it really matters to me. One of the other things I like is the same thing I like about Rugrats. They characters are not used to the human adult world and they come up with explanations for things based on what they can understand, not how things really work. I don’t know if I really like that they’re poking fun and explorers and anthropologists, or it’s just universally good.

The notes in the box set say something like Jim Henson conceived of the fraggles on a long plane flight, and 3 days later he pitched the idea and the work started. He wanted to make a show that would solve the world’s problems (he said it’s better to be ambitious than to aim low). And there are lots of valuable lessons to be learned from the fraggles (which, you know, is my favorite thing about kids shows). But they are a bit more subtle than your usual dribble, and often done differently than you would expect.

One thing I didn’t remember about the fraggles was how much they sing. I mean, I knew the theme song, but I didn’t realize how many original songs there were. And, not giving in to the emerging pressure of 80’s fluff, these songs are very folky. And sticking to that theme there’s Mokey fraggle, at whom I will often yell at the screen, “stupid hippy.” (and apparently others think so too, because she’s the only one without a current doll). And, I’m no hippy, but I like these songs. You can view the lyrics here

I was going to lay out the cast of characters for you, but this page does all the work for me.

In the first episode, Beginnings, we’re introduced to all the fraggles, and we learn Gobo’s Uncle Traveling Matt’s mission in life, to go into “outer space” (read: outside of the fraggle cave, into the human world) for scientific discovery. And he entrusts Gobo with the important task of retrieving postcards from “the room at the end of the tunnel” where Doc and Sprocket live. Gobo is the leader, and his voice actor is also Robin Frog and the Count von Count. Gobo is my new favorite Canadian—and boy is he Canadian, eh? And for those of you who don’t know, that’s the premise of every show. I’ll spell it out for you

1. The Fraggles have an important plot within their cave. Which usually teaches us a valuable lesson.
2. There’s a subplot with Doc and Sprocket.
3. There’s a small sub plot with the Gorgs.
4. There’s always a postcard from Uncle Traveling Matt

Here's an episode list for you

And the lessons begin with episode 2, Wembly and the Gorgs. You see, Wembly (voiced by the same actor as Kermit) is indecisive, and rather than think for himself, he just agrees with everyone he’s around. And when he’s captured by the Gorgs he defers to them, and they make him their pet and treat him really well. But their whims change, as they often do, and they capture his friends. And in a moment of greatness he becomes his own person fraggle, and saves them all. And we learn a valuable lesson about being your own strong person. But we also learn the lesson that people who are being restricted and controlled don’t realize it until it’s too late, and you don’t realize how much freedom means until you don’t have it anymore--- pretty sophisticated for episode 2.


Ep. 3, Let the Water Run, has the important, yet trite, don’t try to do everything yourself when your friends are willing to help, lesson. But the water making bangers and the Doc bits are really good.

Ep. 4, You Can't Do That Without a Hat, mirrors the Wizard of OZ, I’m sure I don’t even need to explain it to my brilliant readers. But it’s the first episode to feature Boober, who is my favorite, because he always worries about the worst. Worried about taking a plane because it might crash? He’s one step ahead worrying that the earth won’t be there when you get back. His voice actor is also the voice of Gonzo.

Ep. 5, The Thirty-Minute Work Week, is where it really gets good. You see, part of growing up in the fraggle cave is putting in your 30 minute work week. And the time has come for Wembly—the indecisive one—to pick a job. Gobo already gets the mail from Uncle Traveling Matt, Boober does the laundry (the most tedious, boring and safe job he can find), Mookie picks radishes… And every fraggle has the perfect job for his or her fraggle personality. After finding out that none of his friends’ jobs are right for him, he goes to see the great trash heap. And he decides to be a fireman—but the thing is, he’s afraid, because he doesn’t even know how to build a fire. And after some prodding by his friends and a giant push onto stage, he goes to the fire meeting. And as it turns out, none of the firemen know how to build a fire, they just wear funny hats, climb ladders and ring bells. And we learn the value of hard work and that there is a perfect job for everyone. Inspiring I say. I’m sure I’ll watch it plenty when I’m an unemployed loser with a masters degree.

And just when I think things can’t get any better, ep. 6 comes along, The Preachification of Convincing John. One day Mokey, the stupid hippy, decides that eating doozer buildings is the wrong thing to do. Those little creatures work so hard and fraggles just eat, eat, eat. So without asking the doozers how they feel, or what they want, she launches a campaign to stop all fraggles from eating doozer buildings, but since they taste so good, no one listens. So she goes to see Convincing John, aka, Jim Henson, who can convince any fraggle of anything. And after she comes out, convinced that she should always wear cups on her hands, he agrees. And all fraggles stop eating the buildings, and get hungry and grumpy. Meanwhile the doozers build and build until there’s no room for anything, and they’re preparing to move away, so they can build more, when Mokey happens upon a crying doozer child and overhears that they have to move because the Fraggles have become “so cruel” and stopped eating so they could keep building. (in the first episode we see a doozer watching a fraggle chomp on some buildings, and the doozer comments “it’s nice to see people enjoying architecture these days. ”So Mokey tell everyone they can eat again, fraggles rejoice, and never question her decision ( I guess stupid hippies are prone to whims). And we all learn a very valuable lesson about trying to “help” the underrepresented without asking them first.—IF only more people watched fraggles…

This episode really highlights the problem with fraggles and doozers. They peacefully co-exist, but never talk to each other if they can help it. They speak the same language and can communicate, but stick to their own kind. Fraggles play and doozers work. Doozers build, Fraggles eat. They both seem friendly enough. I just don’t understand. The doozers could have just asked the Fraggles to start eating the buildings. Mokey could have just asked the Doozers how they feel. But no, somehow it’s just accepted, even after we all learn valuable lessons.
And that’s disc 1, there are 3 more discs of episodes, 1 bonus features disc, and 1 special best buy CD rom with screen savers and wallpaper

This Old Porn Is New Again

As you may well know, I'm oddly fascinated by retro porn. Possibly, more than the next person. And this wired story makes me happy and creeped out at the same time.

The thing about porn, is that it's meant to be arousing, if not sexy. But when I know the people are long dead, it mostly turns to fascination.

Amateur porn is super easy now, everyone and their famous celebrity counterparts have it on their camera phone, and on video tapes waiting to be stolen by creeps. But, think about how much more trouble it used to be. These people had to work for it, find the ultra-modern cameras, and developing, or record it on their hand cranked video recording machines...

They say that porn transformed the VCR technology. And the current DVD porn features like multiple angled camera shots will soon revolutionize entertainment and technology again. And for that alone I say, bring on the expensive porn, and bring on the cheaper, more reliable electronics. Surely now, the whole polaroid market is being kept alive by teenyboppers and amateur porn.

From the article:

People have sent in photos from stashes of amateur erotica found when going through parents' or grandparents' bedrooms after they die. Others have stumbled across Uncle Joe's collection when helping him pack to move to a retirement community.

Widowers have sent Nash photographs they took of their wives 60 and 70 years ago. "They speak lovingly of their wives," says Nash. "What an acknowledgement that they wish to entrust us with these very revealing photos of a woman they loved."

30-min work week

I was going to post about how I was a bad person and watched Fraggles before I finished my homework, but I’ll have time for that next week. There are a lot of valuable lessons to learn from Fraggles. And I'll explain the title of this post.

Instead I’ll craft a hypothetical story, about a girl named, oh Mindy. Now, Mindy is a bright, hard working girl, working 40 hrs a week to finance her way through grad school. She never makes trouble, and never shows ambition at work, because she’s not going to stay there, and the less they think she can do, the better.

So, earlier this week Mindy’s young co-worker quit. She was hired fresh out of USC last year, because they could pay her very little. Mindy kinda liked her, but really, she was a greenhorn, not very professional, and didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut. Mindy doesn’t think she’ll be much happier in her new job, but at least that job won’t make her punch a clock.

Mindy’s boss took this very personally. Mindy’s boss loves Mindy (and really, who wouldn’t). But she hates Mindy’s only friend in the company, Hannah. And now that greenhorn co-worker is gone, Mindy’s boss apparently needs someone to push around. So Mindy and her boss had a meeting where the topic was office politics. Mindy, never wanting to cause any trouble, just did what she always does when presented with unpleasantness--- smile and nod. After a long lecture on how greenhorn co-worker was poisoned by Hannah, Mindy was advised not to chat with, or take breaks with Hannah, because the much beloved Mindy could be poisoned too. (Although it was admitted that boss-lady does not think Mindy is weakminded). And at the end of the entire mess the boss says “I’m not telling you you can’t be friends with Hannah, it’s just friendly advice”---- whatever.

Yes, Mindy, wiser than her 25 years on the earth has just been told not to play with the “bad” kids during recess. Mindy knew her boss was a little crazy, but she didn’t realize the extend of it until now.

And now, without doing anything to offend either party Mindy is caught in the war between the boss and Hannah. That’s not the kind of girl Mindy is. Mindy avoids drama as much as she avoids homeless people on the streets. And Mindy’s simple job that’s close to home and leaves her plenty of time for school just became a lot more complicated.

And she’s starting to look for paid internships for the spring semester. She would very much like a job that doesn't involve punching a clock too.

Accessories for a cause

Today was my week of giving selfishly. In exchange, I will get jewelry.

I finally bought my Banned Book Week bracelets, although, from what I hear about the ALA store, chances are I won’t get them in time for Banned Book Week. Unlike every other bracelet for a cause, these are not disgusting, nor are they made of brightly colored rubber.

And, the favorite jewelry of the 1 cent short gang to covet, smallthings, is giving half of their sales this week to mercy corps, for hurricane relief. This is actual quality stuff. And the lady is very nice. I suggest buying now, if you ever want to buy.

Apparently I’m not the only one interested in hurricane relief who hasn’t given for any other disaster. Americans give record amounts of aid to Katrina victims

The American Red Cross said it had received 485 million dollars in gifts and pledges for the hurricane relief effort as of Wednesday, of which 251 million has been received online.

Most Wanted

I’ve never tried to hide my love of Hilary Duff from my friends, or random strangers. And I’m pretty unapologetic about it. Blondes with curls I always like, and that was my first impression of her. And that Lizzie McGuire is a good show.

I am, however a bit embarrassed about purchasing Hilary Duff paraphernalia. I’ve always liked her more as a tv star than a singer, but her new album is exactly what I want out of my teen idols—hits without the fillers. But my head was somewhere else the first week the album went on sale, and I didn’t buy it. And now I can’t get it on sale! I went to the $9.98 CD sale at circuit city, and it was the only new release they were out of. I thought, for sure, they’d have it. And some bitch-ass girlfriend was rather upset at the really annoying guy blocking all the CDs. NO she did not want Kanye West, she wanted Hilary Duff. They both seemed equally annoying, so I see why they’re together, I just hope they don’t have little annoying babies

And today I rushed out to Best Buy during lunch to pick up the special Best Buy edition of Fraggle Rock. It turns out I didn’t need to rush, there were PLENTY of Fraggles around, I don’t know why I was worried. So I stopped by the Hilary Duff section while I was there, and it was empty. This seemed strange. And then I tried the new release section, and there it was in all its $14.99 glory Hilary Duff’s Most Wanted.

$15, they want $15. I don’t even pay $15 for a good CD, I’m not paying it for teeny bopper music! I had resigned myself to the fact I'd have to pay $13, but that extra $2 leap was one I wasn't going to make. I didn’t realize that in order to own teeny bopper music I’d have to be a crazy teeny bopper fan girl and buy it the second it came out, in order to get it for a good price. Bleh!

So instead, I have 700+ mins of Fraggles to watch (a deal at $30) and whatever untold treasures are on the Bonus CD-ROM. And I'm very excited, although I've told myself that I can't watch it until after my presentation this weekend and my assignment due next mon. is turned in.

I may have to take to the internet to fill my Hilary Duff quota.

some library blogs

Since it feels like I have more work than I can possibly finish by next weekend, the lure of procrastination is strong, strong, strong.

I’d like to point out a few things, like this post on Katrina

This sounds awfully naive for someone who has lived on three continents, but losing a whole city doesn't sound like the sort of thing that's supposed to happen in America.

That’s pretty much my feeling. Also, I can’t possibly wrap my head around that much water. Especially this week, it seems my lack of sleep is not making me very bright

This post from the Feel-Good Librarian really makes me wonder (or maybe it’s the aforementioned lack of sleep) if I really have what it takes for a public service job. First of all, I hate strangers. And secondly, what would I do in a situation like that?

Last year a girl in my class (maybe only a year older than me) was talking about a problem patron who kept asking for help with the computer—annoying yes, but it was the racist, homophobic content of his computing that she couldn’t deal with. My advice to her was 1. she’s only a page and she should let the librarians handle what she didn’t like—at her salary she barely got paid enough to come into work, let alone deal with the creeps. 1. As a young, small, and attractive female she has a lot of power, and simply telling a supervisor that he makes her uncomfortable should be enough that she never has to deal with him again.—This was advice for her current situation. But it can’t apply when you’re the one in charge

I think the feel good librarian could ethically (and legally) choose not to help someone who was doing something she believed to be illegal. But when the situation is not illegal, just bigoted, ethically you have to help them as much as you would anyone. And I’m hardly unbiased.

And to end this post on a lighter note. Here’s a truth if I’ve ever seen one in a comic strip.