Random notes

Last night I had a really great conversation with a couple of poor schmucks (sorry, but conversations I think are great tend to bore the hell out of normal people). Basically, while everyone is in a panty-twist about ebooks right now and are bemoaning (or celebrating, whatever) the demise of the hard copy book, it's really not as dire as all that.
If you can have a fully protected ebook that is shareable and accessible without additional equipment (i.e., Internet, computer, ereader, iPhone), then I would worry. As it is, books are the perfect little portable entertainment systems. You don't need power sources, RAM or screens to access the meat of a book. When you buy a book, you've bought all you need to be entertained for the next 2-8 hours. Kind of like how soccer is the most popular sport in the world because it is so readily accessible (all you need is a ball and space to play), books will continue to exist and thrive, because they are so simple.
So please, everyone, just chill out already!

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Random book of the week that I've sold on Amazon: The Theory of Group and Quantum Mechanics. And, no, it's not chick-lit.

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Something is bothering me: I'm not seeing any entry-level wurndurd positions anywhere. Libraries are only hiring management-level positions, and bookstores aren't hiring at all. The bookstore thing, I get, it's just sad. But libraries...whatever happened to promoting from within and bringing in new talent at the bottom? What happened to fostering loyalty over a career? I know a lot of libraries are worried about succession management, and they should be. For the cost of bringing in a new manager, they could be bringing in two (or more, if we're talking the SF Bay Area) entry-level Librarians. It feels frustrating and terribly backwards that the vast majority of the positions I'm finding are II, III, Supervisory or Directors, especially since those who are brought in at that level will have already superceded others in that system who wanted that job. Not exactly the best way to create a collaborative environment, you know?

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There's a book coming out in May called Smart Girls Marry Money. The romantic in me is crying right now...

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Today is the official first day of the Watchmen movie. I'm not sure I actually want to see it, knowing what ridiculous changes have been made to the story from the original. I understand the need to collapse characters and streamline the story, but to change the ending completely? To change motives and directives? Screenwriters adapting from source material (especially beloved classics like Watchmen) need to remember that the material with which they work IS NOT THEIRS. They may feel ownership because they are adapting the material for a different medium, but the language, characters, action, tone, motivations and development is someone else's.

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PW is reported this morning that Dublin has been declared a Unesco City of Literature. It joins the ranks of Edinburgh, Melbourne, and Iowa City....
There's really nothing else to say, is there...