What does your soul look like?

This project is really neat! Draw your soul, and send it to the good people at Information is Beautiful. Closing date is Oct.31st though, so get on it! As David states on his site:

If enough people do this, it could be really interesting. Because we’ll all be blind to other peoples’ drawings, there’s a chance here to spot patterns, commonalities and any interesting coincidences that might appear across all the souls.

And to my agnostic and atheist friends, swap out "soul" for "mind" and play on.

a reminder from the past...

Here's a poster from the WPA.

Public Libraries and Provocateurs

Reposted from the September 19, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle article the "Public Option" by M.C. Blakeman:


Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option - specifically, the public library option.

For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantlyeach day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free. How is the private sector supposed to compete with free? And just what does this public option give us? People can spend hours and hours in these dens of socialism without having to buy so much as a cappuccino.

Furthermore, not only can anyone read books for free in the library, they can take them home, too. They get a simple card that can be used at any library in town. No checking on the previous condition of books they've read. No literacy test. Nothing. Yet, do these libertines of literature let you choose any book you want, anytime you want it? No. Have you ever tried to get the latest best-seller at a public library? They put you on a waiting list for that, my friend. And if you do ask these government apparatchiks a question about a book, they start talking your ear off, and pretty soon they're telling you what to read.

Of course, if you break one of their petty rules and return a book late, you have to pay fines that mount grotesquely each day. Even if you die, your overdue fees keep piling up. Is that not a death tax? How long must the elderly live in fear of burdening their children with these unfair sanctions on their estates?

Don't be fooled for a minute. Somebody has to pay for these "free" libraries, and I'll tell you who it is, pal. Those good ol' suckers, the
American taxpayers, that's who.

Have you ever wondered who's really behind this public library option?
And don't you think it's fishy that they mask their nefarious activities with benign-sounding names, like Friends of the Library? What's their real agenda - and why do they have so many "volunteer" meetings, anyway?

No, my fellow Americans. We cannot wait until we're all goose-stepped into a massive book checkout line. This assault on capitalism and our very way of life has got to end. Be subversive ... burn your library card! Go out and buy a book!

...

Friends, if this made you mad, then you definitely need to read this.

This is awesome...

Y'all know that I love technology, but this is heart-breakingingly...

...dumb. And sad.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/

James Tracy, Headmaster of Cushing Academy says, “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ and has successfully pushed for a book-less library. *sigh*

And one more quote from the article--this time one I agree with:
"William Powers, author of a forthcoming book based on a paper he published at Harvard called Hamlet’s Blackberry: Why Paper is Eternal, called the changes at Cushing 'radical' and 'a tremendous loss for students.'

'There are modes of learning and thinking that at the moment are only available from actual books,’ he said. 'There is a kind of deep-dive, meditative reading that’s almost impossible to do on a screen. Without books, students are more likely to do the grazing or quick reading that screens enable, rather than be by themselves with the author’s ideas.'"

And what about the simple arithmetic of constantly changing technology? With a library with books, once a book is bought it can be used until the contents are no longer relevant; that's a pretty long shelf-life! With a room full of kindles and laptops (which are perfectly wonderful tools in addition to books) what happens when these machines are no longer a supported format and the library cannot afford to purchase another $15,000 to $50,000 worth of new hardware?

Well, it's a first--I'll give Cushing that.

Nick Harkaway talks about Web 2.0...

...as it relates to authors and publishing, and, surprise, it relates to libraries as well. Take some of this those lessons he mentions and move them from publishing reps to librarians and they still make a lot of sense. He also includes space capsule artifacts and witty banter, and relates the internet to a pub. The most simple and most important idea he mentions (and writes in < big > letters) is "The internet is not a broadcast medium." Yes. Yes. Yes. To read Harkaway's post, go to: http://www.nickharkaway.com/2009/04/you-have-to-be-there/ (or perhaps you a fast clicker person and have already clicked on the title link).

Harkaway is also the author of The Gone Away World. You can read a review of this book here (written by yours truly): http://omnidawnblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/nwf-fiction-review-feature-1-trevor.html

Letter to electricity

(for Robert)

We were deluged
with your absence
the sky hanging low
we reaching out
our mouths moved
and I noticed
curvature of
lips and sound
then the lights
they went out
out where you might be
now I’m writing
this to you and to
all electricity
the rain outside
that night accompanied
by light and wind
was, is not architecture
when the sky
is hung to sleep
every star a pill
of potential dreaming
the old constellations
still there and no one
reading them at all
we opened our mouths
so you could speak
only stars spilled
forth driving and flickering
possibilities and languages
frozen in static
so this is a letter to you
a tracery of what might
this is a letter to you
to electricity.