Monthly Archives: November 2006

Weird weather lately

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Yes, Virginia, we, too, have been having unseasonably warm weather. In late November. Had to open my window last night; after turning off the heat several days ago. It’ll be in the 60s today, getting rainier, and then sleet and 20s for tomorrow. Yay! November is back.

Seriously though, we had some great weather over break. Warm, sunny and calm winds. We had at least 3 days like that. I did get to the disc golf course on Black Friday. If I had been paying attention I could have went on Thanksgiving or Sat. It’s been warm in assorted ways for even longer. Up till today, anyway.

I got in to talk with Carole about my class yesterday. It’s all good; I’ll just be taking a little longer. Carole was awesome, as usual. Discussed many of the same things as I did with Kathryn last week; this discussion was far lass abstract, though. Seems I have a better handle on how to possibly get the rest of my education restarted. I don’t necessarily have an “answer;” I have a path that may provide an answer. It feels ok.

It is odd, but I seem to be stitching together my recent past, present, and near future education into a (possibly) coherent vision. Probably the main reason the story couldn’t be constructed, much less told, was I needed to come to grips with how dichotomous it has all been and seemed, lately. I let Carole in on some of that oddness yesterday; but again, eight days later I have more of a plan.

She was great, and in advisor role, not professor. She knows me well enough to take a more long-term and growth-oriented perspective. I have been lucky to have people like Carole and Kathryn (and others) to talk to here at GSLIS.

In other news, I heard from Dr. Marcia Zeng yesterday that I am on the ASIS&T Standards Committee. Dr. Zeng is the incoming Chair of the committee.

Today I picked up a book I ordered via ILL to evaluate personally and as a possible recommendation for the LIS Library to purchase: Advance Topics in Information Technology Standards and Standardization Research, Vol. 1. / Kai Jakobs, ed., c2005. It looks like a current overview of (some) issues in standards and could be very helpful. I’ll have to have a look at the previous title, also: Information technology standards and standardization : a global perspective / Kai Jakobs, c2000.

This morning when I headed out of the house the day was just like a warm day in late November “should” be, that is, blustery, gray and overcast. It still is that way in mid-afternoon. Said cooling off is still scheduled for tomorrow morning. In fact, if it stays as currently forecast, I’ll be able to leave the window open tonight and close it when I get up tomorrow.

An answer for Lynn (break update)

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[Note: Feel free to read this post-T-day break update. It started as a response to Lynn's comment on my Movies, movies, movies post and got way too long ....]

Hi Lynn, We should be asking ’bout your knee, methinks. Yes, the tooth is much better; thank you for asking. Only sort of half repaired, but no longer infected or in pain; two very valid and relevant [in the fullest LIS sense of that word ;) ] points, and also ways of being.

Break was reasonably relaxing. But then it was mostly me. I spent a couple hours with some folks Sat. eve, but I think that was the extent of my ‘socializing’ over the “break.” I did got to work and run a few errands Mon-Wed, but then it was just me. That can be a blessing sometimes; at least it means no one else’s hangups and stressors become yours as they are wont to do at holidays. This time it was all to the good to be alone; me and myself got a couple things worked out I think, educationally.

How is your knee? And why was your break less relaxing (of which I am sorry to hear)? Did you go back to work?

Spellbound was good. You have to have something for spelling or 5th graders or an odd view of humanity that involves 5th graders in single elimination spelling, or something like that. There are few sports this exciting. Seriously, it was good. A couple of the kids are a bit too privileged and too clueless to recognize it, but then there’s the tiny little kid who should be on pure liquid Dexedrine (a lot like a certain very small 5th grader I once knew; one who lost the school-wide spelling bee and forever after knew who to spell ‘thoroughly.’ Oops!).

These kids certainly have issues with words. But this is an issue with words that I can more fully understand. To spell well, which is its own odd talent, requires the kids to know the meanings of the words, their etymology and to be able to recognize/use them in context (in a sentence). This is a skill, but it doesn’t make one intelligent, smart, etc. (spelling well, that is). We were talking about this today at lunch, also standardized testing (esp. GRE). They are such narrow intellectual specialties. And there are so many more of these narrow talents. Spelling competitions, in this manner, and all the various skills and knowledge needed to spell those words that you don’t know or have forgotten (for that is what this extra knowledge of words is really for; to help with the ones you don’t ‘know’ at the moment) seems pretty broadly (traditional) disciplinary and also culturally [in a Western-sense of 'cultured'*].

I guess what I’m trying to say is that spelling well (at least at the national level) requires a fairly broad base of knowledge. It is also a base that then ties well back into all of recorded knowledge (and much not recorded), allowing one to find and make interesting connections across languages, domains, disciplines, times, and places.

Vastly different than knowing words for Scrabble.

* Folks, I am not claiming that this [Western culture] is the only way of knowing, nor that it is the best. It is neither. Thus, while I feel that this form of ‘word issues’ has educational value for bringing so much into the speller’s world, it also excludes much from the world.

I guess I ought to quit babbling, but I’m enjoying myself. And, in case of you forgot Lynn, the movie was good.

[And, Lynn, feel free to respond via other means if you prefer. ;) ]

Movies, movies, movies

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I have been watching a couple movies during this break. Maybe I could be doing more productive things, but my mind also needs a break, time to do some leisurely processing in the background. So movies it is.

I have mentioned some of them already, but would like to flesh them out with wsome mini-reviews.

Friday, I watched Steamboy. It was OK, but ambivalent on “science” in the end. [Should rightly be applied science and, thus, technology, though. The movie referred to it as "science."] Set mostly in England, and particularly London during the Great Exhibition of 1851—Crystal Palace and all—steam was king and “science” was ascendant. Science was portrayed as the means of helping humanity or as a highly dangerous way to make more powerful and efficient weapons of war to be sold to the highest bidders. The latter way was winning. Motives in the movie were rarely this simplistic, but this simplistic dichotomy was nonetheless explicitly set up for the”purpose” of science. It was an entertaining movie, well done in many ways; I just feel cheated by its vague and simplistic stand on one of the supreme (and complex) moral issues of all of human history.

Sunday, I watched The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. This was a good, but odd movie. I’m not sure what I felt about this movie; may have to watch it again some day. It is very complex morally. In the end, it is hard to embrace any of the characters. In this sense, it is a vastly human movie. I do not necessarily require “clean and tidy” movies, but this one seemed to be pushing at the edges of “clean and tidy” for me. But then life is rarely clean and tidy, either.

Kingdom of Heaven was watched over Sunday and Monday. While a visually lush movie (Ridley Scott), this just did not resonate much with me. There is a fair amount of character development, and almost everyone learns some hard lessons, but they do little for the characters or the film, in the end. I did find the premise interesting, and it’s a timely topic. I just wanted more. Maybe it was supposed to be representative of the time and not judge that time morally, but we need nuanced discussion and views in these matters today and not simply lush, big budget, films that have no real statement to make. Yes, it seems I am expecting too much of mass entertainment.

Monday I watched Adaptation. I really don’t know what to say about this one. Not really very good, nor recommended.

I watched Paradise Now on Tuesday. My comments are at the LibraryTavern post that caused me to put it on my list, assuming Liz approves my comment. Recommended, but (for me) lacking.

Word Wars (Scrabble) is a pretty good documentary, but knowing words just as objects and combinations of specific numbers of letters on lists is a seriously bad “word issue” to have, IMHO. I’ve enjoyed some Scrabble in my day, but that is a wrong reason (and way) to know words. It seems to me that that would be (is) a good use of computing technology; we humans ought to know words in the sense that computers cannot. The people in this movie are all characters, full of real quirks, predilections, and motives. I watched this Wednesday.

After Word Wars, I watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I had already seen this but wanted some mindless entertainment for one of my movie slots where I wasn’t prepared to really concentrate. Not really a good movie at all, but it has its moments. Really, read the books, or any other format in which you prefer some version of the story.

Yesterday, I watched Junebug, Sirens, and Napoleon Dynamite. I feel that all of these were oversold to me, but in vastly different ways. They weren’t bad movies, and for what I paid were worth it, but … I got nothing else either.

Still to watch:

Maria Full of Grace. I need to watch this today so I can return it before 9 PM.

Spellbound (1999 National Spelling Bee). More folks with word issues. I have until tomorrow for this one.

thanks giving

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It is that time of the year in which “we Americans” take a moment to be thankful. As much as it might not seem it from much of my posting lately, I have much to be thankful for. And it would’ve been on my mind Thanksgiving or no. The timing is just perfect for the posting of explicit public acknowledgments.

First and foremost, I have many people to thank for making me feel cared for. I was hoping to return from ASIS&T energized and ready to tackle the rest of the semester, and the future. Instead, I returned and lost about a week of school and lots of money, and a few more visits to dental types thanks to an infected dead nerve. Hopes of some sort of (educational) recovery were shattered.

Maybe it has all been for the best. I needed some focus and while this was far from efficient, it may have worked, or at the least sent me lurching forward for the moment. Only time will tell. Back to the thanking….

Many friends have made contact with me in various ways—empathizing, sympathizing, offering unsolicited (but always) welcome advice, saying “Hi,” asking me how I am, and generally just letting me know that they care about me. The message has been coming through in person, by IM, email and blog comments; at home and away.

People that I have the utmost respect and care for deeply have said the most amazingly kind things to me. People who I only know from the bibliobs (heehee, sorry, just realized that we could shorten “biblioblogosphere” to “bibliobs.” Has a nice ring to it, although some might find it “objectionable” or “offensive.” I guess it isn’t exactly positive in its connotations, but it’s almost as good as having a BS in Philosophy. Or the BS part of the LC schedule ….) Anyway, even friends I know only from the interweb or have just met have checked in with me. I love and thank you all.

I am extremely grateful to Associate Dean Linda Smith for making my trip to ASIS&T affordable. I look forward to being engaged with this organization. I met quite a few new friends, a couple of whom I am sure will be lifelong friends. I got to tag Michael Buckland. How many LIS students (or anyone else) can say they tagged Michael Buckland with an “antelope” tag? Linda Smith is an incredible person; I sincerely hope that she can feel much of the love and respect the students (and others) have for her.

So many others in the whole GSLIS team have earned my utmost appreciation and love—Boyd Rayward, Pauline Atherton Cochrane, Carole Palmer, Kathryn LaBarre, Allen Renear, Dave Dubin, Linda Smith, much of the staff, too many others too numerous to mention. These folks have spent many hours nurturing me in numerous ways.

My new ASIS&T friends: Nicole, Edward, Athena, Unmil, Heather, Clay, Emma, others. It is such a pleasure to get to know and be involved with such a brilliant, engaged group of librarians. washtub and jennimi. What can I say?

Jeremy and Sara: my children are continual inspirations for which I am so grateful. They have taught me so many lessons in life, and still do.

Iris Jastram – Pegasus Librarian : Iris and I have recently become friends via the web. As an added bonus to having her care about how I’m doing, I have become (lovingly) envious of her writing on her blog. I was recently clearing out some “kept alive” posts in Bloglines (putting some in del.icio.us, which is just moving the larger problem) and I was going through a bunch of Iris’ posts. Re-reading many of her posts in succession I quickly came to explicitly realize that she writes well, passionately and balanced about topics I care about. She writes things I wish I was writing. Must be why I’ve been reading her since I first stumbled over her blog. I want to write like that (again)(more). I am thankful for Iris as a friend and writer.

I must be forgetting some important people—those who helped me move and allowed me to help them move earlier in the year, the LEEP program and all my LEEP pals. I may make a sorry LEEP student myself, but I love working with them. My friends at Milner Library. So many others.

Em.

As one of my favorites muses says:

and i owe my life

to the people that i love.

Ani DiFranco. in or out. imperfectly.

words. redux.

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I’m afraid that I may be diving too deeply into word issues, and with bad tools to hand. This early warning was only the tip of the iceberg of my word issues lately.

find the line, find the shape
through the grain
find the outline,
things will tell you their name

Suzanne Vega. Night Vision. solitude standing.

thank(ful) you

I’m in the process of writing an important thank you note. [Damn, I guess that's definitionally true; especially if you're getting one from me!] Anyway, I want it to be some version of “correct,” while immensely heartfelt. How do you tell someone that you hope they know that they are idolized by “generations” of students? That they are an inspirational professional role model?

I truly do have some things people to be thankful for lately. It’s been noticed that I’ve sounded “discouraged” lately in my blog posts. I think that is (was?) an accurate assessment. I have had friends making loving comments here, emailing me, IMing me, offering me gifts of music, checking in with me …. I feel cared for; I truly do. These times of year are always difficult for me. But I’m getting a plan together which may lead to inspiration (and a bit of knowledge along the way). Movement, forward movement, seems possible.

crossword puzzles

As I’ve said before, I wake up and go to bed doing crossword puzzles. I sometimes do them at other times of the day. Been doing it for years. Mostly New York Times Sunday or Saturday puzzles. I have some fairly strong “remembrance” for past puzzles. I often fairly quickly recognize one I have done before. I don’t mind so much re-doing them–there are only so many–but I do not like knowing words because I can “see them” locationally instead of (very loosely) definitionally. That. Bugs me.

Seems my newest NYT Omnibus has a massive amount of recognizable ones lately. They can only be repackaged so much without running into them again. It’s just been a bad streak.

what things “are” vs. what they are “about”

I’ve been facing word (and concept) issues in serials cataloging lately. There are a few examples that my brain, bless it’s heart, is not allowing me to think of at the moment. They are enough mental work at work. One of the bigger issues the last few days has been the distinction between what something “is” and what it is “about,” or more accurately what it “is” if it isn’t “about” anything?

I am trying to catalog a commercial catalog selling video recordings of select, small genres of movies to individuals. Trying to come from LCSH into DDC for a class number is causing me fits. I do not like the current tools. And trying to piece it out leads to a seriously deep rabbit hole of words. A deep hole with no help at the bottom.

Another issue was the One Family newsletter. UN NGO for planetary citizenship. This one took too much time. Can I please have meaningful tools? That are user-friendly?

I won’t use words again
They don’t mean what I said
They don’t say what I said
They’re just the crust of the meaning
with realms underneath
Never touched
Never stirred
Never even moved through

Suzanne Vega. Language. solitude standing.

Thesaurus visualization issues

There’s this thesaurus … and at the moment, I have almost no entry into the data or its structure (terms, relations, …). There is a nice visual output of the thesaurus for the user, but this is a very flat view and if something isn’t related already then there’s no way to “see” that. I see it as a wonderful tool at the user level, but it isn’t giving me much to work with. The other reports and views are even less useful. Overall they don’t add up to much more.

As much as I dislike MultiTes at least its reports could, in combination, give you some idea of the structure, quality, breadth, depth, etc. of your thesaurus. I feel like the little Dutch kid with his reputed finger in the dike. I believe that there are systemic and structural issues, but I can only see the word in front of me.

Word escapism

So I decided to watch other people with word issues. I returned 2 movies tonight and got (ahem) a few more, including Word Wars (Scrabble) and Spellbound (1999 National Spelling Bee).

Word Wars is a pretty good documentary, but knowing words just as objects and combinations of specific numbers of letters on lists is a seriously bad “word issue” to have. I’ve enjoyed some Scrabble in my day, but that is a wrong reason (and way) to know words. As Joel Sherman says, this should be the theme song of Scrabble:

Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe

…

Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Beatles. Across The Universe. Let It Be.

wow

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Sort of an underwhelmed astonishment. No, not really “astonishment.” I can certainly see how I got here, after-the-fact. Hmmm…? Anyway, not sure if I’m living or being lived lately. Lots of stuff happening. Not ingesting much of some of it. Some relaxing and being with friends, but in a complicated, sort of way. Lots of little “failures,” of the “Am I letting someone else down?” sort.

Late afternoon I sent off my 3rd marked exercise for Information Modeling. I think I was OK. This class is such a (wonderful) dichotomy for me; wonderful in the multitudes of ways in which has been and remains dichotomous. I do believe that I am meeting the requirements and, more importantly, the purpose of the class, but it sure isn’t in the best of ways. It is in effect a “survey” class (of a particular type and level having begun with first-order logic) and I am certainly surveying.

The whole two classes at the same time thing was not my best idea. Far from the worst; but not so great. It’s working; could be better. I’m still missing some of the IML classes even though Classification Seminar is over. Allen had class the previous Thursday while I was stuck in O’Hare. This week I made all of class, but with the tooth and poor to no sleep, I was practically asleep before class was over; just kind of dazed.

I have watched 3 movies since Friday evening. Friday, I watched Steamboy. Yesterday, I watched The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. I began Kingdom of Heaven last night and finished late this afternoon after sending off my entity relation diagram and exercise.

From 12:30 PM Saturday to about 2 PM Sunday, I drove 320 miles; most of it Sat. Hung out with friends, who had a sleepover out at Lake Bloomington. Tooks lot of fire pics.

I also brought home 5 heavy boxes of books from storage. They’re just sitting in the back “bedroom.” Maybe I’ll have a look over the weekend.

I returned the previously mentioned movies just a bit ago and got 5 more. But by getting them tonight, I get to keep them until Friday at 9 PM instead of Thursday. It’s just me on Turkey Day so I might as well watch some movies. A couple need to be watched before or after, though. Maria Full of Grace seems to not be a Thanksgiving movie. Maybe not Paradise Now, either.

I need some time to think. My adviser and I talked for about an hour today. Mostly it was just catching up; letting her into many of the ‘little “failures”‘ mentioned above. Gesturing toward research/ideas for Carole’s paper, CAS project ideas, independent study for Spring, ….

It was really an odd session; abstract and vague. Although there is nothing wrong with abstract or vague when they serve a purpose, currently abstract and vague is not good for me. This is mostly my fault; seems I can be no other way at the moment.

School is at a really weird point for me lately. I despise the whole semester system, but that’s been a given for a while now. I seem to have hit some sort of a plateau, a stalemate. I’m not worried it is permanent–just a slump–although, I can see slowly moving towards this over time. Possibly.

Kathryn wants me to curl up with all the literature I collected in Classification Seminar; not just soon, but longer term. She thinks my direction(s) will come from there; I think it may well.

In other related news, I now have a CETRC Mentor. [CETRC Mentoring subcommittee.] As some of you know, I passed on the honor to possibly be an Emerging Leader. I have a few reasons; much of it is financial. [I actually know at least 3 of the folks accepted; at least 2 recent UIUC grads. I wish them all the best of experiences with this program!] I had decided to instead apply to the ALCTS CCS CETRC Mentoring Program. I found out a couple days ago that I got accepted and who my mentor will be. We have yet to make contact, so who will remain unnamed for now.

I guess I figure I would rather spend some time learning from those who have (recently) gone before me, before I try running the asylum. In fact, I prefer it as a long term modus operandi. That doesn’t imply I don’t value those who want to. I just prefer a more personal way to learn “to lead.”

And, NO, I do not want a handbag!

Blake has been keeping in touch as LISHost has been getting nailed by spammers the last few days. I get relatively little spam that makes it through to my blog to get caught by Akismet. It stops everything else. Moving to the Cutline template has, for me, drasticaly increased the number that get to Akismet. Still minor. The last couple of days many are making it through to the Moderate cue and some are getting caught by Akismet. Still nothing getting through that I know of. But if I am getting hit this hard, I can only imagine folks like Walt or Aaron. Spammers are in a special level of the special level of hell I have reserved for marketers. So why all the handbag spam?

This is really rough in spots, but it needs to go out. I may elaborate on many of the things touched on here; much of it is my future. This is possibly more for me than others, but feel free to engage me over any of it. I just have mostly questions right now.

MyALA for 2007

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In case anyone is interested, here is what I did about ALA for this year:

Stayed as a student member.

Kept ALCTS and the Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS).

Added Serials Section (SS). Hey, it was free and I do serials.

Dropped ACRL and the two sections I was in. Hasn’t been of much value to me and I’m no longer so involved in the student chapter. [Yes, the site needs updating. We're having a "small" issue getting control handed over to the new webmaster.]
Kept Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT).

Finally added New Members Round Table (NMRT).

Added Library History Round Table (LHRT).

Joined LITA. I decided to give it a try and see how it fits my interests.

In the end, my dues went up by $5/year. I guess I was feeling generous when I renewed two days ago. All this certainly won’t be sustainable when I’m no longer a student, though.

I would shut my eyes…

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I would shut my eyes but I’ve got promises to keep
I can’t go crazy and I can’t get sane
And I don’t want to leave—I’d just have to come back again
I’ve got nowhere to go but to sleep….

Jolie Holland. “Nothing to do but Dream.” Springtime Can Kill You

The pain is pretty much under control between the Vicodin and large doses of ibuprofen. But the tiredness. And lack of concentration, and subsequent lack of progress and productivity. Not good.

I had come up with a fall back plan for getting my academic act together. Doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to pull that off either. I really am not happy with what I need to do to reach the fall back, and now I don’t even seem capable of doing the small things I need to do to be ready for tomorrow’s class. I guess I’ll see how I sleep tonight and try and do something before my class which is at noon.

I also spoke way too early about the ants. Not as many yet, but I found a few this morning and another upon coming home this evening. I need to get something else specifically for them, but have had neither time nor money. I now have a little money, but no time to go to the store. Of course, I’m out of many food necessities, too.

I attended a presentation by Endeca today. I took a few notes, but I have no idea what I’m free to report. Nor am I in the mood anyway.

I guess I best get busy and finish my ASIST 2006 posts as I see I made This Week in LibraryBlogLand for my conference coverage, as did Washtub and Christina.

I also see I made it in for my Words. post. I sure hope I get to feeling better in case it generates any conversation.

Well, that’s enough griping, although the last two paragraphs aren’t gripes at all; they seem to be the highlight of my week so far. I should add all the love and concern I’m getting from my friends via various means. And my daughter sent me a friends request in facebook. Those are both pretty highlighty.

Night all. Please cross your fingers, pray, whatever turns you on. I really need to sleep to at least 5 AM or so.

Upgrade; new pics

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Well, the going to bed at 6:30 business didn’t work out quite as well as I wanted. I woke up at around 12:15, took more meds and tried to get back to sleep. No luck. I got up at 12:30.

It’s now 6:35 AM and almost time to get ready for work. I did take a 2 hour nap between 3 and 5-ish. I am not fully rested, but am way ahead of where I was yesterday.

I just finished upgrading the blog to WordPress 2.5. I also removed the rest of the default Cutline images and added several more of my own. I now have 18 header images, all of which were taken by me. I have a lot more images prepped but need to figure out how I’ll attribute them as they are by others.

I really like the Cutline theme and Chris Pearson is most generous with his time and dispenses lots of helpful guidance in a gracious manner. If you use WordPress and want to use a theme and make changes to it, but are worried your php/CSS/XHTML/… skills may not be up to it, any theme by Chris Pearson is a good one. Cutline has its own blog where those of us using it get to interact with the designer. Not only does he add posts about things one can do with the theme, take a look at the comments to see how much interaction goes on between the designer and users.

Chris Pearson is near the top of my list of what I’m thankful for this year! While a blog theme may be a small thing in the cosmos, his involvement with us users in not. Thank you, Chris!

Quick toof update

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It’s just before 6 PM CST and I’m back home from the endodontist. As soon as I’m done with this I’m off to bed.

I slept like crap; hell, maybe didn’t even sleep last night. I am and have been exhausted all day. An hour drive each way, in the rain. Was great fun! Have I mentioned how much I despise driving in the rain? Long story….

Sure enough, the tooth was dead. Additionally, the gum and jaw have become infected. Actually, he didn’t mention it but I can tell, the glands in my throat are swollen and sore too. So I have a sore throat inside and out! He did give me an antibiotic for the infection, thankfully.

I have to go back in about 3 weeks and get some more root canal goodness done on it. Then go see the regular dentist a few weeks later to get it permanently resealed. Such fun! And only $944. For just this visit. Honestly, I’m not that sure I’m worth this kind of money. [Miss E, was that a root canal that you had a few months back? And did our student insurance cover any of it? I'm not holding out much hope.]

I was able to get back to Champaign-Urbana to the clinic to get my meds filled. Penicillin and Vicodin. Then I stopped at MerryAnn’s diner on the way home and got some breakfasty goodness so I didn’t have to worry about making myself dinner.

I am trying to keep my head above water and stay connected with folks, but please forgive me if I’m not quite so timely lately. I haven’t even been able to go to work (any of my jobs) since I got back from Austin Thursday evening. Haven’t got much homework done either. I may have gotten rid of the ants, and I did get to see several of my bestest friends in the world at ISU yesterday. I even got to spend more than a few minutes with Mo, Gina, and Chris! Not quite so much time with Katie and Jenna. I truly hope you all know how much you mean to me. And Miss Mo, I will always talk to you like I think you understand what I’m talking about. Because, you generally do, and there never was any question that you are capable of doing so.

Then in the evening I got to have a wide-ranging discussion of two good books and many other things, like the state of the academy, culture, education, etc. with three brilliant men. Where were you Rachelle? We’ve put our discussion group on hiatus for a while. Not sure when we’ll revive it. *sigh* I’ve been reading, discussing and learning from these folks (and one or two others) for almost 7 years now. This (slightly variable) group has been one of the best communities that I have ever been a part of. Despite, or maybe in spite of, almost 200 hours of higher education since meeting them, they are truly responsible for the quality and depth of my education.

OK, enough of this blog stuff. I’m off to bed. I love you all, new friends an old, “virtual” friends and “real.”

And, no, I’m not high off the Vicodin yet. I just took it, and I would need to take a handful for that to happen. Another long story….