Soon we are entering a completely new year and what is going to happen in that year is beyond everyones knowledge. When I was little I always made New Year's vows just to have one to pronounce on New Year's eve. To actually follow what I've just dedicated myself to for a whole year was something completely different...Luckily, I've learned from my mistakes and nowadays I don't make promises I know I can't proceed with.
This year's vow (or vows depending of how you see it) might be a challenge but I don't think it will be impossible. Until today, I haven't really thought about my New Year's vows for 2009, but what I have been thinking about is change. I want to change (a bit -not completely, haha) and I want to actually live to the fullest. And I am not meaning that I will become party princess Sandra -available for booty calls 24/7, I mean that I want to start appreciating things more and allowe myself to feel like an it-girl. I'm one of a kind and so is my life. A bad day is not going to destroy my precious life anymore. 2009 is going to be a year filled with love, happiness and development for me and I promise myself that I am going to be sexier than ever (even though I might somedays still wear sweatpants and a Hello Kitty T-shirt :P).
Ooh, I can't wait until the clock strikes 00.00 -I am so welcoming 2009 :) HAPPY NEW YEAR little blog!!!
Oh, and I am also going to practice on not closing my eyes on pictures! x)
It's the last day of the year, time to take stock of the year gone by. What an exciting year it has been!
I created a number of artworks I'm proud of. I drove across and around the country with my wife, something I've wanted to do for many years. And I continued to immerse myself in painting and sculpture by visiting museums around the country and really enjoying many of the works I saw. I don't know which one to show on today's post, but I guess it will come to me before I finish the post. The museums I visited this year include:
Barnes Foundation, Merion PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA
Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA
University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA
Delaware Art Museum
Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Metropolitan Museum, New York
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Frick Museum, New York
Neue Galerie, New York
New York City Waterfalls (Olafur Eliasson)
Dia Beacon, Beacon NY
Mass MoCA, North Adams MA
Bruce Museum, Greenwich CT
Baltimore Art Museum
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Louis Comfort Tiffany collection), Winter Park FL
Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park FL
Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park FL
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Phillips Collection, Washington DC
Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC
Laguna Beach Museum of Art, CA
Frederick R Weisman Foundation, Beverly Hills CA
LA MOCA, Los Angeles CA
Kimbell Art Museum, Ft Worth TX
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Ft Worth TX
Dallas Museum of Art
Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas TX
Georgia O'Keefe Museum, Santa Fe NM
LA County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Broad Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach CA
Denver Museum of Art (including preview of Clyfford Still Museum collection)
Denver Contemporary Art Museum
Whitney Museum of Western Art, Cody WY
Sculpture Garden, Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody WY
Frederick R Weisman Museum at U of MN, Minneapolis MN
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Aside from creating art and visiting museums, I also read Hilary Spurling's extensive 2 volume biography of Henri Matisse which I thoroughly enjoyed, Matisse's essay Notes of a Painter, Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art, an illuminating collection of essays and letters called Writings on Art - Mark Rothko, and The Writings of Robert Motherwell. And now I've embarked on John Richardson's 3 volume biography A Life of Picasso! I also read several national art magazines each month.
I've finally selected not one but two images to go with this post, both colorful although created 500 years apart, and both from the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft Worth TX, our first scheduled art museum stop on our cross country trip (I visited all the art museums from the Kimbell to the end of the list on our summer cross country trip). Fra Angelico's 1429-1430 small painting The Apostle Saint James the Greater Freeing the Magician Hermogenes, and a late Henri Matisse from 1946, Asia.
I didn't know I'd done so much this year! No wonder I feel like I've been busy. A review really is very valuable for appreciating all one has accomplished. I hope you've had a great year too. Thanks for reading my blog.
I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!
You can view some of my 3-D paintings and mixed media works on my website, www.jayrolfe.com/.
Zane Grey in Australia. Zane Grey wrote westerns. It is such an idiosyncratic picture.
Good Morning
Right now, I am reading The Merchant of Dennis The Menace The Autobiography of Hank Ketcham. Hank Ketcham new he was going to be a cartoonist from time he was six years old. He was an incredibly focused man. I can see parallels between the life of Hank Ketcham and Charles Schulz. Both were very clean, middle american white anglo saxon protestants. The book is profusely illustrated with black and white photographs and cartoons.
Today is a half day at work.
I picked up a copy of the dvd Capote about Truman Capote. I heard that it was a very goood film. I liked In Cold Blood and was wondering what the life of the writer Truman Capote was like. I could not finish the movie because the dvd was scratched. This happens sometimes. I'll have to return it and request another one. The first part of the movie was very interesting. It makes me interested enough to maybe read some of hist other works.
I am trying out a Tumblr account. http://bookcalendar.tumblr.com/ . It looks like an interesting sharing network for a variety of different things from links to videos to picures.
Baker & Taylor is laying off 60 people from their retail division which is bad sign. It means that less people will be buying books from bookstores. If less people buy books from stores they are likely to use the library more. However, because less money is being spent there will be less tax money for libraries. It is a kind of vicious circle. The coming year will be about increasing efficiency without increasing costs. This means a lot more will be expected of people.
This poem is after the style of the Beat poets, it is a kind of lyrical nonsense poem in an attempt at a jazz kind of rhyme. I am thinking of Bob Kaufman the beat poet who wrote the Abomunist Manifesto when I am writing this.
Sometimes all you need is a delicious (and big, hehe) cake and an extremely lovely friend to light up even the coldest days here in Sweden. Even though it was -5°C when I biked down to town, it was totally worth the 2½ hours Maria and I chatted away at caféLinné Hörnan. It's funny how a newlyfriend can make you feel like you've known that person forever, haha. Maria is great! =) And we even (or I) made a deal about meeting next week, so she can help me with the stupid physics paper we got before hols. I am so relieved about that....:)
However, I was not as relieved about how much my chocolate cake -that was called brownie, but didn't look like a brownie at all so I have no idea why they call it that! ^^- cost. I mean SEK 39 for that!? Okay, it was damn good and they decorated it pretty well, but I can get like three of those at Secret Recipe! Hahaha...I suppose I have to stop comparing the prices here in Sweden with the prices in Malaysia, because I am really starting to get spoiled...
There are a lot of people who come into our library to use the wireless internet access. Many of them are accountants, (numbers people) or computer people, (system administrators, web designers or programmers). I try and talk to them to see what they want in our computer books section. Because of this I have ordered books on Ubuntu linux, Suse Linux and Oracle for the systems side, and Crystal Reports, Dreamweaver, and web design for the design side.
They usually come in and sit in a quiet corner. A lot of them want an outlet so they don't have to rely on batteries. I like when professionals come into the library to work. They are usually quiet and don't ask a huge amount of questions unless the wireless internet goes down. Also, I think they make an excellent constituency for keeping the library open. It is a place to work.
I spent a bit more placing orders in different carts for January in Baker and Taylor. I think I have my initial orders in for mass market paperbacks (all categories), Job Information Center, 650s (Business management and accounting), computers, graphic novels and manga, and 300s mainly social science.
On another note, I have the new list for low circulation items from the cental computer office. This has already speeded up the weeding somewhat for the 300s.
I also finished reading The January Dancer by Michael Flynn. It has a rather nice surprise ending. The book might take me a little bit of time to write up properly as there are some interesting aspects to the story I have not seen in a while in current science fiction.
I have just started reading The January Dancer a science fiction novel by Michael Flynn.
I found another social networking site for books. This one looks fairly interesting. I am hoping that it does not fold like the other sites which I joined earlier. It is in alpha right now, so it should improve considerably. Lit Minds http://home.litminds.org/index.html It is also a .org which makes a slight difference in how its funded.
Good Afternoon
I am getting the hang of using the Baker and Taylor order system. It is speeding up my ordering process for new books. I am readying next years orders.
I also had a chance to go through letters sent to us from various performers for library programs. They all want you to spend $200-400 for an hour or an hour and half program. Mostly it is musicians, mainly jazz and ragtime music. There are several Brazilian jazz musicians offering to do programs. There is also a lady who wants to teach tarot and a watercolor artist. Sistah Souljah wants $5000 to do a short program at our library.
Getting Things Done The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen.
This book is about how to be more organized. It describes how to use organization to become more productive towards reaching your goals. The methods are focused on a combination of workflows, peak productivity, and translating your goals into immediate actions.
I have very mixed reactions to this book. I rather like the idea of a to do list being a list of actions instead of goals. This makes sense for me. I believe in the principle of actions leading towards finishing goals. This is very similar to the idea of MBO (Management by Objectives).
One of the things I don't like is the work flow charts he uses to show how to accomplish goals. They seem much too complicated in my eyes. They look like something a consultant might cook up to get extra billable hours.
I also didn't like the idea of creating daily folders 1-31, and monthly folders, January-December. It seemed like this would work if you had an executive assistant to help you, but not if you were on your own. They system is called a tickler file system.
I also don't like the long process he uses before you decide to act: 1. Ask why you are doing this. 2. Look at the principles behind the goal. 3. Envision a clear outcome. 4. Brainstorm about the outcome. 5. Organize your brainstorming. 6. Perform the action. It is much too long in my opinion.
He claims that if you process all your stuff until you can do things one at a time, you will enter a zen like state of peak performance. This seems a little unreal to me. There is nothing about the meditative practices to do this. To do this you must go through absolutely everything you are doing and write it down.
Parts of his organizational ideas make sense. Keep the systems you need to organize your office simple and straightforward, use manila folders, staplers, a labeling machine, paperclips, a calendar, in box trays, pens, and a wastebasket. Have a few filing cabinets and a clear workspace. Do this for both your home and your business. It is imperative to be organized in both places.
Another idea that makes sense is to always keep a noteboook and pen with you so you can write down ideas that come to you when you least expect them. I have started carrying a small notebook and pen with me.
I also like the way he envisions things. What is immediately in front of you is on a horizontal plane, what is to be done in the future is on a vertical plane going higher and higher like an airplane. In the airplane idea, you start on the runway with immediate goals then rise into the air finally reaching life goals.
It reminds me that I have to focus a little more on future goals; learning microsoft office products, attending conferences, and longer career goals. I am going to pay my Westchester Library Association dues because the book reminded me about it. Because the airplane starts on the
He reminds us that we should keep a file for future ideas in our drawers, things which we cannot do immediately. Also a file for important documents that you might need to reference in the future.
This book is such a mix of good and bad ideas that I think you will probably learn a few things as well ask yourself why is he suggesting that? David Allen's suggestions can be a real puzzler sometimes. I think it could have been simplified and clarified more in a few parts.
The writing is typical of most business writing. I would call it simple and practical, but not that entertaining. The quotes in the margins are interesting-- "We must strive to reach that simplicity that lies beyond sophistication."-- John Gardner. There was an index in the back of the book, but no bibliography or notes.
Getting Things Done is a bestseller on the New York Times Bestseller business list.
I'm done with Uppsala. Not literally done with living here -more done with the yearly after X'mas SALE. That is what I have been up to these past few days, and that's the reason why this little blog had to remain untouched. Because whenever there is a sale somewhere, I am automatically standing there in the crowd beside a bitchy I-woman with a cabom-cabom bigger than Mount Everest that over and over again tries to squeeze me aside. Before, I used to do nothing but now I learned that a girl gotta do what a girl gotta do; I push her harder and get my lovely tank top. *I'm so sorry D. Lama for not being humble at moments like this!
I don't really know how to put this, but to go on sales is kind of mine obsessive compulsive disorder, and it gets even worse in Malaysia when the malls are like 5 football fields! I love the sales in Malaysia...=) However sales is over for me right now. I don't want to go to anymore sales until I am fully recovered from this year's. Hope I don't have to ampuatate my legs -that's how tired I am...^^
James Carroll Beckwith Portrait of Mark Twain -- 1890. "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."-- Mark Twain.
Good Morning.
I tried to read Dead to Me by Anton Strout, but the opening seemed very flat. I think it would have appealed to a much younger person than myself who was still caught in the world of the street and having a good time. It seemed like something which passed me by a long time ago. I lost interest in the story very quickly. The idea of a person with psychometry skills is interesting, but the execution and place seemed off.
I put in my membership dues for Westchester Library Association. This should make it easier for me to go to their conference in May. Earlier, I had put in my dues for the American Library Association, I am a member of the Intellectural Freedom Roundtable and the RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) as well. I also put in my membership for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which provides legal defense for the comics industry in the United States.
This is a short statement by Neil Gaiman on why he supports the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Well Christmas 2008 has come and gone and in Cape Town, we had glorious weather to enjoy our usual outdoor Christmas lunch. This is a picture of our friend, Dawne - nuclear physicist turned cello maker - relaxing after a rather large meal.
And I have discovered the person who belongs to my painting. Her name is Jo Ann Elig and she lives in Rhode Island in the United States. Check our her blog. This is the original picture and I've posted my painting again as a comparison.
This is the classic exercise I had to do for penmanship and for learning typing. The sentence, The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog, contains all of the letters in the english language. It familiarizes you with the letters on the keyboard as well as cursive script.
Good Afternoon
This morning I walked up the block to my local library and dropped off my books and picked up a new one, The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, a science fiction novel. I did not feel inclined to stay long. I simply was not in the mood to sit at the computers, I wanted to get home quickly. Still the walk was pleasant, even though it was a bit chilly outside. I even picked up two cups of coffee from the local deli.
I have started reading Getting Things Done The Art of Stress Free Productivity by Dave Allen. It is a national bestselling business book. One of the things I like about the book is that he has put numerous short quotes in the margins of the book, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get."-- Anonymous or "What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do." -- Aristotle. The book has inspired me to putter about the house a bit and put small things away...
I tried to watch Healing Yoga for Common Conditions, but found the instructor was more attractive than the content of the video. The workout did not seem any better than the one I am currently doing every day. Also the explanation of the workout did not have very much depth. I'll probably continue looking for other videos.
Spunk and Bite A writer's guide to punchier, more engagings language and Style. by Arthur Plotnik
This book is about how to put fire into your words. Change them from common things like blue and building to cerulean and tower. Make the castle a monstrous edifice and the suit concrete specked gray.
It invites you to change your language, sound less ordinary, and add some bite. Speak with the diction of a street hustler or Generation Y.
Pay attention to your language; maybe use a thesaurus to find new words apart from the ordinary; or use a visual dictionary to learn all the parts of that boat you are writing about.
Maybe you need a little onomatopoeia to give your character some squishiness, bang, or explosiveness. Make your novel sound the like the world around you. No dull sentences filled with the ordinary every day grey.
Arthur Plotnik gives you permission to use sentence fragments when it adds spice: to use foreign terms like udon or caramba: and even shows you how to create your own words. Isn't that just swish.
He wants you to use less common adverbs, burble and bubble with neologisms, and write with force and character.
Use of language allows you to rise out of the common slush pile and onto the editors desk. Break the rules of grammar if you need to sound interesting. Use non-standard formatting for dialogue. Make your language flow with feng shui; all the pieces opening and closing properly.
The only parts that didn't flow too well for me were the sections on grammar; what is the point of the colon and semicolon. I don't know, the sections on words were much better. Also, I found his writing on sentence structure to be a bit tedious. Read this book to learn about words and how to use them.
This is a book about language and making writing come alive. The book is quite lively and readable. You might even call it entertaining. I think it might help the writer who needs to add some color and vividness to their writing. Read it if you want to add a little Spunk & Bite to your writing.
Arthur Plotnik is the author of The Elements of Editing
Father Time. Sculptor is John Flanagan (1865–1952). Photographed in 2007 by Carol Highsmith (1946–), who explicitly plaed the photograph in the public domain.
A Year In Review
I am writing my thoughts freehand right now. I am thinking about the last year I have been blogging. It has been an interesting and useful experience. I learned a lot about myself and my own inclinations.
I rather enjoy writing. This blog has probably improved my writing considerably. I try to write every single day of the week for at least a short time. I also try and read every day.
This blog reflects what I have been reading; these are most, but not all of the authors I have written about.
Business: Chris Andersen, Paul Hawken, Gary Hirshberg, Jonathan Pond, Jack Welch, and Muhammad Yunus
Children's Literature: Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, Dr. Seuss
Classic illustration and comics: Hokusai, Lynd Ward, Winsor McKay
Comics: Sergio Aragones, Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Tony Millionaire, Alan Moore, Osamu Tezuka, Marjane Satrapi, Joann Sfar, Craig Thomson, Bill Willingham
Fantasy: Toby Barlow, Michael Chabon, Steven Erikson, Robert E. Howard, Diana Wynn Jones, Ellen Kushner, Ursula Le Guin, Martin Millar, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, Ekaterina Sedia, Sherri S. Tepper, Terri Windling, Jane Yolen
Horror: H.P. Lovecraft, Brian Lumley, Edgar Allen Poe
Internet/Computer: Paul Krug, Don Tapscott, Jonathan Zittrain
Poetry: Charles Bukowski, Kahlil Gibran, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Diane Wakoski
Science Fiction: Paolo Bacigalupi, Iain Banks, Tobias Buckell, Peter David, Cory Doctorow, David Drake, Joe Haldeman, Charles Stross, Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
For some reason, I remember the titles on the books on clean technology more than I remember the authors; Here are a few of them:
Apollo's Fire, Cradle to Cradle, Freedom From Oil, Green Investing, Natural Capitalism, The Clean Tech Revolution
I like to think how we invest our money and make choices in technology will affect our future tremendously. Invest responsibly and green. Take the time to think about a different future; a cleaner future. One of the futures I like to imagine is turbine powered future; wind, wave, hydroelectric, biofuel turbines, solar turbines, and turbine engines.
Another theme in this blog is visiting a variety of places in New York that have to do with comics or books, the Queens Central Library, the Strand Bookstore, Housing Works Used Book Cafe, Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, the Puck Building, the Jacob Javits Center, Midtown Comics, Forbidden Planet, and Roger's Time Tunnel, and The McGraw Hill Building. Often this coincides with specific events like The Day of Dialog Between Publishers and Librarians, The Book Expo America, New York Comic Con, and the MOCCA Art Festival.
I also write about social networking a bit. I have stopped focusing on gaining traffic through sites like Entrecard, Stumbleupon, and Technorati. Instead I am focusing on networks that are more interactive like Twitter (microblogging), Fuelmyblog, and Blogcatalog all of which have built a set of tools for dialog as well as thumbnail images. I think three sites is about all I can handle for social networking.
I try to include images of authors or images that are literary in nature when I post to my blog. I also sometimes include Youtube videos of authors speaking or short cartoons like Felix the Cat, Superman, or Popeye.
For a while I tried advertising on this blog, adsense, and projectwonderful but I realized it was not worth it for the amount of time spent on the ads. I think that for the most part it is very hard to make money blogging. This blog turned into a noncommercial blog.
The incomparable Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel) drawing How The Grinch Stole Christmas Good Morning
I had a nice holiday at the relatives. No reading yesterday and a little bit too much to eat. I watched Happy Feet on dvd yesterday which was light entertainment. It was pleasant fun. I also got lost on the freeway home for an hour. Google Maps didn't turn out too well for me. The last time we used Mapquest and were only lost for fifteen minutes. I think I prefer Mapquest online for finding directions.
I am heading in to work this morning. I have to spend some time learning how to use the Baker & Taylor ordering system a little better. I think my day is going to be rather busy. I am finding it very easy to use. The entry of orders is quite fast.
On the train in to work, I read some more of Spunk and Bite. The book is about how to use words much more effectively. Sound effects (bang! zoom!) , using foreign words (umami), and even creating new words were covered in separate chapters (bloggerific you blogerati).
I especially liked this quote, "something will stimulate you if you continue reading." Surprisingly, I found a few moments of reverie where I closed the book and looked at the ceiling pondering the meaning of what was written.
Two books which I had on hold came in through interchange, James P. Blaylock, The Knights of the Cornerstone and A New And Expanded Woe Is I, The Gramarphobes Guide To Better English In Plain English, Plus A Word To The Wired-- A Whole New Chapter On Language In the Age of Email by Patricia T. O'Conner. New Years Resolutions
Get organized, much more organized in all three aspects of organization: tidiness, time management, and planning for results both in my professional and personal life.
Write every single day in my blog if possible. Improve my writing skills in both nonfiction and poetry in the process.
Lose weight and get in shape. This is per my doctors orders. I have to take off the weight. Specifically lose 5 lbs ever two weeks, 10 pounds a month for the next six months. Do yoga and walk a bit every single day.
Enjoy the coming year. Make sure I spend enough time with family and friends.
Keep my finances in better order. Keep better records, and try to be more frugal. I still have not gotten my hands around the coupons concept very well.
Attend a number of professional conferences. Make new contacts, learn something new at the conferences.
Christmas Eve puts a special kind of pressure on singers. I honestly want to sing my best for all the right reasons. I recognize that my contribution to the service is about honoring God and celebrating Jesus' birth. At the same time, I can become consumed with a psychosis about singing a song like O Holy Night which is the beloved Christmas moment of so many. I LOVE singing the song, but it never seems to come out the way I intend. Invariably, I mess up the words, or overpower some subtle line which I am likely the only one paying attention too anyway. The details seem to get in the way so often and I start "in a mental hole".
I sang last night, and I enjoyed making music and contributing to a lovely service. When I listened to the recording this AM, I wasn't pleased at all. For me, the sound was "too far back", the pace a bit frantic at times, and the lines became disjointed all too often. My excuses continue and are disabling and discouraging on many levels. This led me to think that I should not post it for anyone else to hear, but then I remembered the smiles of the congregation and the tears of so many friends. I didn't set out to be "great", I set out to sing and share my heart for Christ through a glorious gift of music.
We, as artists and musicians have to let our art stand for what it is. My song last night was an exploration of sound, story, and love bound by emotional thread and unimaginable power all expressed in the story of a simple birth. Musically, it may have been flawed, but my intentions were honest, and I can and will practice to improve. If God allows, perhaps I'll get another chance next year, or even sooner.
Let's just face it -I am spoiled. I know I said earlier that presents are not the most important part of Christmas, and I still don't think it is but still, I am not going to lie and say that I don't enjoy getting them x). Love and thanks go to Mum, Vicki, Gong Gong, uncle Kevin, uncle Alvin and Santa...that appears to live next door =). And Merry Christmas to the rest of the world that celebrates today!
the Gan family is very...generous towards each other, hehe...
Thanks again for my gorgeous treasures!!! xD
Now I have another reason not to go out! Hahaha...x)
Santa brought the whole a family a box of Merci....Thank you!
My morning of "real Christmas" couldn't have started better. Risgrynsgröt, julvört (with lots of raisins:P) and some honey glazed ham is really all I need. Even though, it's time for the opening of the Christmas presents now... -did not have time to unwrap all yesterday since we watched a awesome documentary Chinese School; highly recommended, hehe. See you later, little blog!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Image of the Parable of the Sower. Have a happy holiday and sow peace and prosperity in the coming year.
Every year mummy puts up the best Christmas dinner, which is both good and bad. Good because it tastes amazing (especially the honey glazed ham that was new for this year :P), but extremely bad when you are finished and when you can barely move, and it gets worse when you realize that you can't see your feet anymore -.-...I have over the years realized that that's not a very good sign. So, after each Christmas dinner we always learn the lesson of what you shouldn't overconsume for the next dinner (eat Christmas food the 24th and 25th -that's it, and enough!). The thing is just that, even though we might learn a big (?) lesson for the next occasion...it never seems to stuck until the next year. Maybe, because a Christmas dinner is a Christmas dinner and mummy's is to good to not overconsume once a year.
Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Leo Tolstoy. 1873. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Good Afternoon
Today was another half day. I read a bunch of magazines, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. It was mostly typical material. I also prepared some more orders to go out for different kinds of books. It went fairly smoothly. On P.19, December 22, 2008 in Publishers Weekly, there is an article about Sony ebooks. Apparently, they sold 300,000 Sony ebook readers this year. The e-ink technology is changing the way ebooks are being read. There are still no figures for the Amazon Kindle ebook reader that have come out. But, this means there are going to be a lot more ebooks produced. Apparently Oprah Winfrey has come out in support of the Kindle ebook reader.
We have the new agreement for film permisions to show movies during the next year. There will be Sunday matinees coming up for family films. There also will probably be young adult films as well. Also, everything is in place in the calendar for January- February. I am still wondering about the new brochure being produced.
I had a chance to read some more of Spunk & Bite. The book is about how to improve your expressiveness and descriptive phrases so far. For example, you might say cerulean blue, or create a surprising phrase like tiny hamhanded man, or chocolate brown notebook, or savage hamster. There are reminders about style and diction. I try to keep my diction my own, not high handed or high minded in the least.
I find something particularly annoying about thesauri. It reminds me of teenage vocabularly building books. I often think it is more important to make your children read the classics to improve vocabulary than rely on pedantic lists of prosaic words. The best way to improve ones vocabulary is to read constantly. I read the advertisements on the subways, the contents of food packages (one of the main ingredients in many brands of bread these days is high fructose corn syrup), newspapers, the internet, community bulletin boards, and many other things.
The Society of Midnight Wanderers is no more. Psalms From The Wilderness http://jdrbeaudoin.wordpress.com/ told me it had gone defunct. It is one of the first places that I had posted a book review outside of my blog.
I am thinking of putting a list of links to favorite authors on my blog in the sidebar. Could you tell me if you would like this? It is something I have been thinking of for a while.
Do you know it's Christmas...? -No I really don't -.-, hehehe...I just realized it when I woke up beside a cute little X'mas morning present =P. Thanks mummy! Now I am going to look damn sexy in grey Sweden, that actually is about to transform into white Sweden. -If the mini snowflakes keep on falling all day =)
Another thing that I realized as well is that, I suck at Christmas wrapping! Next time I will hire someone to do it for me and maybe I won't get injured...-.-
Ohmygosh I was so nervous about entering Karin's challenge, but thought if I don't do it now, then I'll never get past my misgivings about my abilities. So here she is, the artist I was sent to paint. It was certainly a challenge as I have no idea what she is like as a person. All I could see were those stunning eyes, and what an amazing mouth. I hope you like it, whoever you are.
I still haven't melted that it's X'mas tomorrow - but if not the media, people around me, my phone or my watch is lying...it should be X'mas tomorrow. At least in Sweden, since we weirdos celebrate the 24th instead of 25th like the rest of the (normal?) world...Do we really love this day so much, so that we must have an extra day of it? Haha, who knows...
Enough with this, I have to start wrapping. The evening of the December 23 means Christmas wrapping and I am so in for it! Hahaha...
Sick the day before Christmas? No, it's impossible. Tried to drag myself up early this morning, so I could get some exercise done before all the food and laziness that is coming up tomorrow. Let's just say that my plan did not work very well. A snotty nose (better now), eyes on the edge of plopping out, while opened, and a literally dead body don't really go hand in hand with swimming, do they? Decided to stay home instead and just rest. Meaning that, half the day was spent on the coach reading "The sorrows of young Werther" (Den unge Werthers lidanden in Swedish). I must say that it is quite good actually, haha. Every book the teachers are forcing us to read is actually not so bad =) - or is that just me that thinks so...? Anyhow, hope I will feel better tomorrow, because there is only one Christmas each year.
Now I have some stuff to take care of, but will be back late today with some pictures from Friday (Lewar finally sent them). Ciao!
This morning on the way to work, I finished reading Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies by Suzanne Gilad. The last section was about working as a copyrighter or proofreader. It is not something which I plan on doing anytime soon. However, they had an excellent example of a freelancers invoice which I might use somewhere else. Also, they gave some good tips on how to build clientele if you are working on your own.
I found the book quite interesting. There is of course a reminder to not eat while you are editing a document, no one likes food stains on their work. At the library we find a variety of things in books; food stains, dollar bills, old photographs, bookmarks, credit cards, and bus passes. I am going to add to the not eating part. Please don't read a library book in the bathtub. Soaked books are no fun.
If you want to get a better understanding of what an editor or proofreader does this book is quite good. I can recommend it highly.
I spent a little bit of time this morning compiling patron requests for items at our library. I also filled in for someone at the morning reference desk.
On the train home, I plan on reading Spunk & Bite A writer's guide to punchier, more engaging language & style by Arthur Plotnik.
I have read the opening of chapter of Spunk & Bite. It starts with the argument of the descriptivists versus the proscriptivists. Descriptives believe that language gains its relevancy from actual use. Grammar and structure should reflect how people currently use language. Proscriptivists believe grammar should follow proscribed fixed rules of use.
I tend towards the descriptivist side; maybe this is because I am good at describing things clearly, but am prone to make mistakes according to proscribed rules. This might also be the story of my life. If I follow what I think is right, I often succeed better than if I follow the "letter of the law."
It seems like the the time just goes quicker and quicker now before Christmas. Yesterday, I followed my dear mother to town to buy the last Christmas gifts...and it added up to quite a lot :P One of the reasons why I love shopping with mum! =)
There is something special about shopping just before Christmas. Some people hate the "julrusch" as we call it here, but I simply love it. People everywhere on the streets, laugher, smells from bakeries. I just find it so joyful in dull Sweden. I mean it's like the days before Christmas, are the days when people actually go outside, and I like that. Haha, it sounds like I am the person that would die if I won't go out and see people every day. - The thing is that I am not. I love being at home, but I also love going out. I can stay inside for a week (okay, maybe 4 days :P) and still feel like I love my home. But in the same time, I love to go out shopping, dining and meet my friends.
However, I think I'm more of the "stay at home Sandra" in Sweden and "want to go everywhere Sandra" in Malaysia. I think it really has to do with the people and the culture they are brought up in. In Malaysia, there is really no time of the day when there is completely death somewhere; whereas in Sweden - it wouldn't be normal if that would happen. What I 'm trying to say is that, I love both calmness and everything that the word hectic brings. And right now I am totally in for the "julrush"
Today was another very busy day. I put in my requests for conferences with my boss and am negotiating with him and the director about them. I will have to see exactly how it goes.
I spent some more time weeding the social science section. I contacted the system office to get a circulation list to check for items with low circulation to speed up the process. I am hoping I will get it soon.
I also had a meeting with reference staff and the library director discussing collection development and weeding. We are going to rearrange the layout of the library soon. It should be an interesting challenge.
I also spent a bunch more time ordering from the Baker & Taylor Paperclips catalog. I finished doing it today. I've gone through a years worth of mass market paperback titles and selected the ones which I think we should have. This covers fantasy, fiction, historical fiction, horror, mystery, religious fiction, romance, street lit (urban fiction), suspense, and a few nonfiction titles. There were also some computer titles as well.
This morning I read some of Copyediting & Proofreading for Dummies on the train. The book gives descriptions of the job duties of a copyeditor and a proofreader. It also explains the process and gives examples of copyediting and proofreading. There is a complete listing of all the major proofreaders marks with examples of how they are used. I am finding this very helpful in understanding how to make a document presentable to an editor. The book recommends, Woe Is I, a book on grammar which I have put on hold.
The book had a few interesting things which I had not seen before. There was a section with four different stylesheets from editors which was interesting to look at. The stylesheets set down rules on grammar and design for a particular publisher. I have seen proofreading tests, but not stylesheets.
The book also covers an interesting phenomenon. Most books are edited and proofread completely electronically. Manuscripts are forwarded back and forth by email between the editor, publisher, and author. A lot of proofreaders work from home. Reducing the amount of paper used in making books reduces costs and saves time. Yet, the physical book itself is still mostly a printed object.
Occassionally, you come across an interesting tidbit of information. Google has a define: command which allows you to look up information like a dictionary. I don't use dictionaries that often, unless I am looking up words for someone else. Then I tend to use The American Heritage Dictionary and Merriam Websters 11th Edition. The last dictionary I used was http://www.dictionary.com
A few style manuals are suggested. I have the Chicago Manual of Style at home. It is currently in storage in the attic. I tried to read it from front to back, but found it was very boring and hard to read. It was something which you would use as a reference not something to read for entertainment. In contrast, I have Words Into Type, a now long out of print style manual which I found quite enjoyable to read.
I have been corresponding with an amazing artist in Austin, Texas. Her forte is sketching but her paintings are magnificent. Virginia's blog, V ... Vaughn is an incredible collection of wildlife and domestic animal artwork. Because she's so good at it, I sent her a picture of a lion taken at the Kruger National Park and she's already done a pencil sketch prior to painting it.
Before I started writing to V, I had done my own little watercolour of two lions, also taken from a photo from the KNP. Although I don't have V's ability, I thought I would post it just for interest sake.
Check our her blog and website. She's really good.
Maya Angelou with Bloomberg and Nadler in the background. This picture was taken as part of a government event, the commemoration of the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York City on October 5, 2007. Therefore it is in the public domain.
Thinking About Style
I am reading Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad. I enjoy reading this kind of book. It is for my own entertainment. Writersinthesky mentioned it on Twitter. http://twitter.com/writersinthesky . Words fascinate me, especially written words.
Reading Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies has made me think of some of the stylistic choices I make in writing this blog. I sometimes write my posts out longhand then type them up in Wordpad before posting them. I want to keep the process as simple as possible, so I don't use Wordperfect which has a grammar and spellchecker built in. This probably leads to more grammar and spelling mistakes. But, it also makes the style much more personal. There is a certain charm in not being quite perfect.
I realize that my grammar is not perfect. I try and focus on using grammar to provide clear statements about what I am writing about. I am not as much concerned about the finer technical points of grammar and structure. Like most bloggers, I don't have an assistant or editor to check what I am writing.
There are a few stylistic points which I would like to make. I don't indent paragraphs, instead, I put in a line break between paragraphs. I also break my posts into sections with headings that are bolded. I think this makes it easier for people to read my blog. I put in my own paragraph and line breaks using html.
I also write out the full url of any links which I put in. This is because of a style of web searching which called stripping. I like to see the whole url when I am going to a blog or website. This allows me to parse the url into sections; I can then use pieces of the url to go to different parts of a website. I also can use various search commands to find information about a website; the url command allows me to find all the pieces of a website, the link command allows me to find who is linking to a web site, and the document type at the end of the url allows me to search for specific types of documents attached to a specific website.
I try to include an image with each post I write. This is usually of something writing, publishing, or library related. I often use Wikimedia http://www.wikimedia.org/ ; or public domain image websites listed in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_image_resources . I try to use public domain images as much as possible.
Somtimes, I will include a Youtube video. This is usually something which is directly related to the post which I am writing about. For example if I am writing a review of a Neil Gaiman book, I might try and find a Youtube video of Neil Gaiman reading from the book which I am reviewing.
My writing is also not formal. I am not writing to have my work published in magazines. Although recently, I have submitted a book review to The Society of Midnight Wanderers, book reviews to the Book Review Blogcarnival, and to some of the Blogcatalog threads: http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/book-readers/discuss/entry/the-book-review-thread
I have also been picked up with links from several different authors for the reviews I have written. This is a link from Slow Train To Arcturus by Dave Freer and Eric Flint. http://davefreer.livejournal.com/#entry_82576
I may have to reconsider the formality of my writing style. David Henderson who wrote The Media Savvy Leader Visibility, Influence, and Results in a Competitive World sent me a copy of his book for reviewing purposes. I was very surprised and pleased with this. I also enjoyed the book a lot. http://twitter.com/davidhenderson
I am constantly trying to improve the quality of my writing. I don't mind if people criticize me for the content that I am writing. I want to improve considerably. This is one of the reasons I am reading Copyrighting & Proofreading for Dummies. I have read numerous other books on writing and reviewed a few of them here. One of my favorites was Writing Begins With The Breath by Laraine Herring. http://bookcalendar.blogspot.com/2008/10/writing-begins-with-breath-laraine.html
Getting Results For Dummies Get Organized, Stay Focused, and Get Things Done! by Mark H. McCormack
This is a very straightforward book. It is about how to organize your life and get results using simple, straightforward principles.
Mark H. McCormack uses a legal pad, a pen, and a plan to organize his life. He carries his legal pads wherever he goes. The book tells you to find a simple place to write things down which you can always have with you. Technology does not always work.
Using the example of Arnold Palmer, he tells you that being organized is not uptight nor does it create a deficit to creativity. Leonardo Da Vinci was quite organized.
Once you have your notebook, you have to write everything down which you plan to do, prioritize by number, then approximate the time it takes to do what needs to be done. Give yourself extra time to finish what you are supposed to do. "A schedule is a list with an established time frame."
Having a priority list is not enough for a week, you need to plan for a month, a year, five years. This leads to long term objectives. According to Mark H. McCormack, writing everything down and managing your time is part of the philosophy of Management by Objective (MBO). I personally find this idea rather appealing. Management by objective is an accepted business practice.
The chapters in this book go over many other subjects in addition to schedules and objectives. He describes how to declutter, organize your finances, store your goods, manage email and phones, organize your money, and plan.
There are numerous tips throughout the book: A pile on a desk is a sign of disorganization, write everything down don't rely on memory, television is a waste of time, and don't be afraid to say no.
The style of this book is rather interesting; examples come from various sports figures; Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Se Ri Pak, Martina Navratilova, and Michael Jordan are described as being very results driven. Mark H. McCormack runs International Management Group, the worlds largest sports marketing organization. The author understands what it takes to win. He also wrote the bestselling book, What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street Smart Executive.
On the train in to work this Saturday, I read some more Getting Results for Dummies. It had a few very nice tips, "A schedule is a list with an established time frame." He reminds the reader to include the amount of time they are going to give each item on your daily to do list. He also gives the truism that I believe wholeheartedly television is a waste of time.
The author, Mark H. McCormack also ties in a daily to do list and time schedule to the management practice of management by objectives or (MBO), showing how organization and time management combine to make for successful planning and goal setting. He reminds us that to become truly effective we must schedule both our home and business life, include time to rest in a schedule, as well as allow for interruptions and emergencies. This book looks like something I might read again.
I spent some more time this morning weeding the social science books. Right now, I am in the law section of our library. We have a lot of Nolo self help law books, Nutshell Books, Sphinx Legal, and Legal Almanac books. These four series are books which explain the law for the layman. They are summaries of different kinds of legal practice; everything from neighbor law, music law, criminal law, business law, patent law to school law is covered in these three series. Of the four publishers, I find the Nolo books are the easiest to read. Nolo has several different blogs on a variety of legal subjects. http://www.nolo.com/blogs.cfm
I am doing more ordering from Baker and Taylor, from the Paperclips catalog as well. Basically, I am trying to fill in some of the gaps in our mass market ordering so the collection is a little more complete.
Good Afternoon
Once again, I am placing books to read on hold. The first one is Razor Girl by Marianne Mancusi. It is billed as a postapocalyptic zombie romance novel. The heroine is seeking the Magic Kingdom in disneyland. Sounds over the top.
The next one is James Blaylock, The Knights of the Cornerstone. This is supposed to be a modern fantasy novel like Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, or John Crowley's books. I am hoping it will be entertaining.
Frank Miller is directing the film Buck Rogers. I think it might be interesting to see. I actually haven't seen 300 or Sin City. I might see them one day, but not now. The Spirit is also coming out soon directed by Frank Miller. I want to see Buck Rogers more than the other films he has done. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8cb71d29182efee693ef8a7f2501824a
Library News
I regularly read Library Journal online to see some recent news about libraries. http://www.libraryjournal.com/ . There are also two news aggregators for libraries that are kind of interesting.
I am a free woman now. Or almost free anyway. Unfortunately, I did not get to bring my dear sister's camera to catch some pictures of the (sad an happy) day. But I of course fixed it and told my little friend Lewar to take some for me =) The problem is just that she haven't sent them to me yet...note: that little lady is soo looking for trouble! Haha, just kidding...but I will post them as soon as I get them.
Besides that, I am extremely satisfied with my grades. I really were kind of astonished by some of them, but in a happy way. It just feels like I actually can handle and manage this now. That my hard work has payed off...with better results than I expected. And before leaving the ladies (sob,sob -.-) I told them that we shoudn't be sad, cause next year is going to be our year. We are going to rule next year, and we are going to do it damn well. =)
Miss everyone already...Why does everyone live far away from Uppsala?
Isaac Asimov in his younger days. Did you know the early term for science fiction in 1925 was scientifiction?
Good Morning
On the train to work I started reading Getting Results For Dummies by Mark H. McCormack. This book is really interesting because the author is in sports management. When he gives examples he uses famous sports figures like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. He also uses a lot of anecdotes and real world examples. I rather like this quote, "A pen, a legal pad, and a plan are all you need to get organized."
When I came into work the book Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies was waiting for me. I think that will be the next book which I read.
I organized the main display on the floor, did some weeding in the social sciences, and made a phone call to confirm that Westchester Residential Opportunities was going to do a "Foreclosure Information Workshop" at the library on January 29, 2008. I am looking forward to seeing this done. I have also contacted the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America about doing another workshop on foreclosure as well.
Today was a snow day. City employees got to go home early. I rushed to finish another set of orders for mass market paperbacks from Baker and Taylor's Paperclips and finished an order with ten minutes to spare before one o'clock.
Then it was into the snow and freezing rain. The trains were very slow and crowded, but I still had a chance to read some more of Getting Results for Dummies. I also had a large cup of coffee to keep my insides warm. I am enjoying the book despite the mundane subject. The author is a surprisingly good writer.
Conferences
I am hoping I can attend a wide variety of conferences this year.
On February 6-8, 2009 is New York Comic Con at the Jacob Javits Center. It looks to be a very good conference this year. I look forward to going there. Hopefully, I will collect a lot of material for the library there. http://www.nycomiccon.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=2577&appname=100453
On Friday, May 8, 2009 is the Westchester Library Association. I am going there as well. The conference is titled: Making A Difference: Changing Libraries for Changing TimesDoubletree Hotel, Tarrytown NY
On May 28-31, 2009 is Book Expo America at the Jacob Javits Center. I am definitely going to try and be there as well. Book Expo America is held every other year in New York. I plan on collecting a very large amount of publishing catalogs when I go there as well as requesting to put our library on publishing mailing lists.
The day has finally come. The day where Christmas break starts! 01.oo pm I have to be in the assembly hall in school, then we will ahve some coffee and cake with my lovely class before I am free!!! I'm going to miss all my freinds in school that I can't meet during the break, though like mini-Maria and Sabina -.- How sad ;( --- but on the other hand I won't be sad the whole break, since I will have time to meet friends I haven't met in like a decade. I really hate it when it gets to that point...
Just got on the phone with one of those. My godsis. haven't spoken to her in ages and it just felt so great to get the chance to do that today =) She asked if we maybe could hang out some day during the break. I couldn't be more relieved, I mean I haven't spoken with my precious little godsis since September (?) and she didn't call me to yell at me. She called to ask if I had some free time during Chriztmas to spend with her. God I love that girl, she's the sweetest. xD
Oh, and I am also going to practice on not closing my eyes on pictures! x)
