I am not a big user of emoticons, but if I had to choose one ...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wikipedia (#3)
Just a short post about the wikipedia ... I have to say that initially I was skeptical about the reliability of the site for all the obvious "librarian" reasons. But after a lot of use and learning more about the site, I am a convert and I feel better about the information I find there ... although still skeptical about some of the content, it's not to a higher degree than I am with any other source of information (including the Britannica).
Monday, October 29, 2007
Favorite recent read (#2)
Grief ... by Andrew Holleran
A moody read about a college professor from the South who moves to Washington DC for a semester to work as a visiting scholar. The story's subtext is that he has taken the assignment to escape the home life which has caused him much pain following the death of his adored mother after a long illness. Much of the story evolves through a series of reflective experiences with his landlord in DC, his landlord’s small dog, a good friend who is also a colleague at the university, and surprisingly, the city of Washington DC itself. The narrator is gay and although never made explicit, the theme of loss and pain that he experiences at the death of his mother is revealed to mirror the shared pain of gay men in contemporary America who have lost their family of friends to AIDS. The narrator spends a lot of time ruminating on the biography of Mary Todd Lincoln that he is reading and very subtly Mrs. Lincoln's psychosis becomes his own. His paralyzing grief blocks him from creating new relationships and he retreats from emotional contact. Overall, the language is exquisite and the passages describing contemporary DC are thick with atmosphere. The author has a definite gift for language and readers will marvel at every turn just how well this short novel is written. While short on action and plot, the story is long on heartache and desire, and readers will find this book to be a literary gem.
A moody read about a college professor from the South who moves to Washington DC for a semester to work as a visiting scholar. The story's subtext is that he has taken the assignment to escape the home life which has caused him much pain following the death of his adored mother after a long illness. Much of the story evolves through a series of reflective experiences with his landlord in DC, his landlord’s small dog, a good friend who is also a colleague at the university, and surprisingly, the city of Washington DC itself. The narrator is gay and although never made explicit, the theme of loss and pain that he experiences at the death of his mother is revealed to mirror the shared pain of gay men in contemporary America who have lost their family of friends to AIDS. The narrator spends a lot of time ruminating on the biography of Mary Todd Lincoln that he is reading and very subtly Mrs. Lincoln's psychosis becomes his own. His paralyzing grief blocks him from creating new relationships and he retreats from emotional contact. Overall, the language is exquisite and the passages describing contemporary DC are thick with atmosphere. The author has a definite gift for language and readers will marvel at every turn just how well this short novel is written. While short on action and plot, the story is long on heartache and desire, and readers will find this book to be a literary gem.
Easiest habit of lifelong learning (#1)
PLAY is it ... learning happens easiest when an element of play sparks the learning process.
Hardest lifelong learning habit (#1)
Accepting problems as challenges ... too often the problems create a roadblock that cutoff progress. Got to find new ways to recognize problems and move beyond.
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