It feels like it's been awhile since I've reflected on a many and varied topic. It's time.
CNN reports that the a'holes who trashed Robert Frost's cabin in a booze-and-drug-fueled rumpus are being forced to take a class in Frost's poetry. Of course, Frost is the one who stated, "Nothing can make injustice just but mercy." Can you imagine what that class is like? The rolled eyes, the slouching students...it would have been far better for each of the deliquents to be isolated, receiving one-on-one tutoring, 10 hours minimum, on Frost's writing. That'd show em!
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Julie Andrews is a saint. Really! She's the patron saint of public libraries. At least, she should be after her op-ed in the LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-andrews15-2008may15,0,3401026.story (note: of course, we all know that the patron saints of libraries are Saints Catherine, Jerome and Lawrence...nothing against Mary Poppins...)
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A few days ago, I got back from BookExpo America...for those who don't know, BEA is a kick-ass convention for people in the book industry, and the groupies who love them. I straddle somewhere in the middle, so I spent most of the weekend scuttling from booth to booth, drool hanging from my bottom lip as authors, free books and bibliomania abounded. While I did manage a itty-bit of restraint (especially after Christopher Buckley ogled my tits), I walked away with a case of new books, all free, now all sitting in my living room. The other two cases are at the library for the staff to peruse (and bring back, if they know what's good for them). And I now must submit to the fact that I need yet another bookcase. It never seems to end...
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My powers for author/book recall have reached a ridiculous level, as I've inadvertently discovered. Me being me, I didn't think it would be all that special in a library, like this is why librarians do what they do...sadly, they don't. My powers are, in turns out, unique, and a little scary, even for me. Someone mentions an author or book title, and I can see covers in my head, plots unfolding and characters reanimating. It's a sickness as much as a talent. I must only use these powers for good, never for evil. With great power comes great responsibility. Uncle Henry said that, and he's right.
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Nobody mess with the librarians!! From today's Shelf Awareness: "Best description of librarians, by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! at the ABA Day of Education lunch: 'They are a group of people you do not want to meet in a dark alley if you want to trample on free expression.'"
Damn straight. You try to trample free expression, a librarian is gonna stomp yer ass. Got it?
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End with where we began. No one respects poets, not even if they're the best in allllll the land. At least, John McCain doesn't, according to an article in the Washington Post (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/03/poetry_question_stumps_mccain.html).
Sadly, no one bothered to correct the little factoid that the Poet Laureate is appointed by that almighty behemoth of library goodness, the Librarian of Congress.
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