bookshelves of doom

During my commute this morning...

...I was listening to an interview with one of the authors of Big Data, and it made me realize that I'm turning into my father.

Author: If Big Data correlations identify me as a 44-year-old male who's a journalist and who has grand eyes for things I can't afford, it may think that I'm going to be susceptible to embezzlement, and maybe I will get a knock on the door by the police, who say, 'We have reason to believe that you're about to commit a crime.' This is sort of like pre-crime in Minority Report.

Interviewer: Oh, that Tom Cruise movie from a few years back.

Me, bellowing: IT WAS A BOOK FIRST, YOU DINK!

And now I'm all het up.

When I tell him, Dad will be so proud.

Well, either that or he'll tell me that I shouldn't get so worked up about these things.

To which I'll respond: I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU, DAD. I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU.

Sunday and Monday, I shall be here:

 

So if you are ALSO there, you should say hello.

See this year's list of films here!

Some lovely birthday wishes to Judy Blume...

...rounded up by the folks at the National Coalition Against Censorship.

And, hey, Judy Blume shares a birthday with my mother: So happy birthday to you both!

(ETA: The above makes the THIRD time I've wished my mother a happy birthday today. WHEW.)

New to my Etsy shop.

The Little Prince:

Some lurrrve:

And the return of Alice in Wonderland, Hogwarts, the Dalek, and the Hobbit.

"There's plenty of evidence that the best children's books contain all the grammar young readers need."

From the Guardian:

Children's writers relish using language well; of course they do, that is an essential tool of their work. Spelling, punctuation, regular and irregular verbs and everything else about grammar underpin all that they do. (It is odd that anyone thinks it doesn't.)

None of my elementary schooling involved diagramming sentences or anything of the like. That I remember, anyway. I do remember, though, very clearly, that in second grade, our classroom teacher made little grammar books* for each of us, and every time we did something NEW and DIFFERENT (and CORRECT) in an assignment, she would chronicle it in that book. (She was VERY LIBERAL with the foil stars, bless her.)

I also very clearly remember her astonishment when I used a serial comma without any sort of prompting—she asked me how I knew to use it, and all I could tell her was that "it looked right". But now, of course, I assume it must have come from reading.

_____________________________

*The covers were made from wallpaper samples. 

Oh, hooray. I love the United Way booksale at the grocery store.

We are now the proud owners of this:

TSR + romance + Choose Your Own Adventure = AMAZING*.

I did dramatic readings from it all the way home.

________________________________________

*Well, amazingly BAD, but amazing nonetheless.

WHEW.

Apologies for the radio silence: the new semester has begun, the students are back, and my last couple of days have been all about paper jams and showing new patrons the joys of Overdrive, Stat!Ref, Noodlebib, and every other online resource with a compound word for a name.

While you're holding your breath and waiting for my return to regular posting, feel free to peruse this NYT article about 'attack reviews' in the Amazon review system. (Or not. I mean, really, the only surprising thing about the article is that the topic hasn't been covered before. Or maybe it has. I don't know. Oh, look, a paper jam. Gotta go!)

HOLY COW. There's totally a specific word for my usual state of being!

You know: OMG, I'M SO FULL I'M GOING TO DIE, OH LOOK, I NEED TO EAT THAT TOO.

I am so happy.

Now I just need to figure out how to pronounce it.

What was the first thing you shoplifted?

Um. I never shoplifted, actually.

I'm one of those revoltingly honest Marge Simpson types. ("And two grapes!")

So, you know: I'm boring.

But click on through to The Awl for confessions from some of the biggest names in YA lit.

Poor Joshie.

Josh: You know what I hate?

Me: Do tell.

Josh: I hate when, instead of just 'liking' something on Facebook, someone just writes 'LOVE'. WHO DOES THAT?? IT'S SO STUPID.

Me: *blink* *blink*

Josh: What? WHAT?

Me: You... should probably completely avoid the YA blogosphere. AND, LIKE, EVERY FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA EVER.

Yes, yes, I'm officially a Cat Lady. So sue me.

These are not action shots, by the way. SHE JUST LIES AROUND LIKE THIS:

Oh, walnut brain. I do love you.

Coming soon to a living room near me!

Or, rather, to MY LIVING ROOM.

Bookshelves specifically for mass market paperbacks:

Also, despite the best efforts of Lemon, I finally finished that beastly jigsaw puzzle:

Sorry the pictures are so dark. I apparently HAVE ISSUES when it comes to using the correct settings on the camera.

A few things I'm thankful for: 2012.

Josh and I just got home from a big Thanksgiving feast at my aunt & uncle's house. Which was loud and hot and fun and as entertaining as ever. And, hilariously, the "adults" still switch into French when they want to say anything that they don't want us "kids" to hear.

So now that we're all settled in for the evening, pajamas on, woodstove cranking, and cats calm(ish), here are a few of the things I gave thanks for today:

• Josh, who is my best friend and my favorite person, my compatriot in snark, fellow aficionado of costume dramas, board games and jigsaw puzzles; who teases me about the ever-growing piles of books, but is always willing to read something if I think he'll like it; who is always the first person I call when I have anything of importance—or, for that matter, anything utterly trivial—to communicate.
• My sister, who is just as contrary and stubborn as I am, but in a good way, and who is also one of the smartest, most passionate, most entertaining people that I know.
• My parents, from whom I picked up my love of fiber arts and movies, music and food. They read to me every night when I was little, and they're very definitely the reason I was reading at age two.
• That I got to see Collomia before she moved back to the Alaskan wilderness.
• Ann and Paula and Mainely Murders.
• Our winter shares from Wolf Pine Farm.
• That I reconnected with Adam a full decade after losing touch, and that it happened completely randomly while I was in NYC for...
• ...this year's Kidlitcon, at which I finally connected—in person—with people I'd known online and admired for years (as well as meeting many others for the first time). I really don't know how to express how grateful I was (and am) for being so warmly welcomed into the fold with such camaraderie and love and humor.
• The onlinekidlit community: you are my kindred spirits and bosom friends, and I am better for knowing you.
• The unbelievably beyond-any-imaginings hostessing talents of Amanda.
• My fellow Mainers, who voted in favor of equality earlier this month.
• The various and ever-hilarious dramas at my workplace, my dynamo of a library director and my officemate, who is both my polar opposite and my comrade-in-arms.
• Our little house, our idiot cats and cranky dog, the never-ending piles of books, our evenings of good beer and bad tv. 

Afternoon links.

• Letters to a Young Librarian: You're Going to Piss People Off.
• Kidlit-related products: Daughter of Smoke & Bone jewelry and Mo WillemsPIGEON FABRIC. I WILL DIE IF I DON'T GET ME SOME OF THAT PIGEON FABRIC. AND WE TOTALLY NEED A NEW QUILT, TOO. *plots*
• Monica Edinger at the HuffPo: Stop Calling Books for Kids 'Young Adult'
• RH Reality Check: "This week, the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas cancelled ten performances of a play called, And Then Came Tango, which is based on the true (and often controversial) story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who raised a baby together."
• KStew, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?
• Kellen Lutz (and my friend Tim from high school! <3) in a Funny or Die video:

Agent Hashtag with Kellan Lutz from Kellen Lutz

• Speaking of Tim (who is also the brother of hello hello books), he's involved in the indie film Blue Potato, which, oddly enough, is set in my father's hometown and is about someone with our last name. (Not that French names are remotely unusual up in The County, but still.)
• New tumblr to follow: The Sensible Nonsense Project. Tagline: "Remembering the books that taught us more than we ever cared to learn."
• At the Guardian: Gregg Olsen's top 10 deadly reads. (Olsen is the author of Envy.)

Now that's dedication.

In the Target parking lot this afternoon, we parked next to a minivan with the following decal on its back window:

"...and so the Lion fell in love with the Lamb..."

AND THE LICENSE PLATE?

STPDLMB

Just thought I'd share.