It's a BOY in there and he's kicking

So I guess the news is out and the reason I haven't been blogging lately is because not writing about being preganant (because of work and getting through the anxious first months) on my blog felt dishonest, and writing about anything else was impossible!

So yes, I'm pregnant, due in mid December, having a boy if the genetic test is to be believed. I'm planning a home birth, have a midwife and so far, doing well healthwise.

Other than that news, life has gone on and things are normal. Though I'm not sure what can be normal after having this experience.

Trying to figure out logistics of December guests, birthing tub in a small house with small rooms. It will all work out though, I'm just enjoying have something so novel to think about.

More to come - this post was just to dip my toes back into blogging waters.

Cold Northern California Weather

It is hard to be in spring mode (having moved all my summer clothes out of storage boxes, to the laundry, and hanging in my closet) to switch back to winter clothing. However, it is COLD here in Alameda and San Francisco. Brrr. I love it, really, just need to practice the layering technique that is a particularly California look. I make it through the winter with my linens, but spring hits, and suddenly I'm shivering and looking for my sweaters.

Film Festival starts in a few weeks, and I'll be taking off about 6 days spread through 2 weeks. I'm sure it will seem like more than enough considering that our Summer Associates come on the heels of that. I've got to get my butt in gear - plan the program I'll be instituting new this year, of having them work through a real research project, hopefully will real learning applications. I talk things to death, think things to death, and dither around procrastinating, I guess I just love doing everything at the last minute - though I actually hate it, so at this late date I'm still trying to change. I've written out half of the first hour or so in a minute by minute plan - and that seems to be effective, so I'll probably continue that. Hardest part will be finding enough research projects to make this work.

Other than that, I've been reading a lot this week, watching a little TV, taking care of my health, and trying to get enough sleep.

Tomorrow is our National Library Week party at work - my colleague worked hard on posters of attorneys and now we are having a party to celebrate. We are giving away an Ipod shuffle, Staceys gift cards and lots of small gifts. However, we have only had 4 people turn in their quizzes. It will still be fun regardless.

Okay, enough non-news. bye for now.

Levenger mania

Got my lovely lovely leather binders from Levenger, with all the paper styles. I think I'm finding the 3 ring binder to be potentially more useful, the two sided pad of paper binders, less so. I thought the packaging was exquisite though, very special and luxurious with felted lining in a green box, with green elastic ribbon wrapped around the box. The paper with the note box on the left side already came in handy - I used it at a recent meeting and was able to resurrect the meeting via my notes much more easily.

I've coveted things from levenger for a long time, and when I got my gift certificate from my sister for my birthday - I went a little overboard - ordering 2 binders and an assortment of paper.

The SF Film Festival is coming up soon, and I plan to take a few days off to go to many many films. I'll try to post some things about the best films. I always get so saturated that it is hard for me to watch movies the rest of the year. Somehow the 2 weeks on non-stop films is about it for an entire year.

My work has been taking up huge amounts of time lately - so I haven't had much time to devote to home computing. Summer associates are coming soon, that will also be a HUGE time suck!

break in the action

I bet you are asking, what action?
lessee:

Working Way too late the last 2 weeks. Work has been crazy busy and going to our Palo Alto office 3 times in 2 weeks was a bit much.

Saw the Dixie Chicks documentary (thanks to my sister) and totally enjoyed it. Went out to Borders yesterday and spent too much money on books and CDs. Bought the latest Dixie Chicks album even though I am not a country fan.

I had a gorgeous breakfast on Saturday at Citron in Berkeley on College. I was the first one in at that time, and had "corned beef hash" - french style. Excellent coffee, great service, wonderful food. I was happy most of the day after that!

Put anti-flea stuff on all the cats tonight and they are resentful and miserable. Not our friends right now, at all. Cats do miserable well. They hunch down, ears splayed, mournful expressions, and they run from you whenever you get with 5 feet. Tomorrow things should be fine, but right now, they are not happy.

I think I have little to say lately because I am immersed in the US Attorneys scandal, and when not reading about that on Talking Points Memorandum, Daily Kos or Salon.com, I'm reading law review articles about teaching legal research to summer associates. I haven't done this much "scholarly" reading since I was at CSU Monterey Bay. The thing about reading articles about a topic that you care about is that after about article five - you start feeling like it has all been said, and maybe your ideas really weren't that amazing after all. I feel kind of humbled and a little bit like um, who am I to think I can do anything meaningful since all these other people have been at this for far longer than I have been?

In addition, I swear, there is a reason we have no need to publish in private law libraries, because there is ABSOLUTELY no time for this stuff! Have the firm pay for me to spend all this time to come up with some program I'm not even sure they realize they need?

I did have more time to do this sort of thing in Academic libraries - endless pots of time. Acres of time. Right now all this research and reading is squeezed in during my beloved and precious private time. As soon as I start getting resentful, I'm not going to do this anymore.

So, if you are interested in this sort of thing, (unless you are involved in some area of law, you will find this BORING) here are the articles I have read so far:

39 Akron L Rev 151 (Excellent, glad I read this one first. Exactly!)
Forty-two: The Hitchhiker's Guide to Teaching Legal Research to the Google Generation, Gallacher, Ian, 39 Akron Law Rev 151 , 2006

95 Law Libr. J. 7 (I skimmed this one, no comment yet.)
Beyond Training: Law Librarianships Quest for the Pedagogy of Legal Research Education, Callister, Paul Douglas, 95 Law Libr. J. 7, Winter 2003

97 Law Libr. J. 257 (Daunting list!)
Do We Still Need Books? A Selected Annotated Bibliography
Paul E. Howard, Renee Y. Rastorfer

97 Law Libr. J. 661 (Yes, this is a BIG problem, but nobody realizes it is a problem.)
The Death of the Digest and the Pitfalls of Electronic Research: What Is the Modern Legal Researcher to Do?

(Nice program, doing well.)
Rebooting Our Approach to Teaching Research: One Writing Program's Leap Into the Computer Age, Brooklyn Law Legal Studies Research Papers Working Paper Series Research Paper No. 62, October 2006. This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=934688

(Interesting, but not exactly on point.)
Electronic copy of this paper is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=969526
Unlocking the Secrets of Highly Successful Legal Writing Students, Anne M. Enquist © 2007.


55 Baylor L. Rev. 1 (Nice program. Nice overview, our problem is many don't have the experience of such a well-rounded program.)
Cordon, Matthew C., Beyond mere competency: advanced legal research in a practice-oriented curriculum., Baylor Law Review, 55, 1, 1-49, Baylor Law Review, WINTER, 2003.

62 Alb. L. Rev. 213 Boyle, Robin A. and Dunn, Ria, Teaching Law Students Through Individual Learning Styles., 1998.
(I just scanned this one. Interesting, but I'm pretty sure I don't have the time to develop differing learning situations. They only get 4 hours with me, and I'm lucky to have so much time with them.)

If you are still reading, you get major brownie points for the day. Cheers!

Bittersweet Themes

Theme song so far this week: Shadow Boxer by Fiona Apple.

Authors of the week: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller who are writing installments of a new in-progress serialized book called Fledgling. I adore the Liaden series and have read and re-read them all. Last weekend I read Crystal Soldier and Crystal Dragon for the 4th or 5th time each. This is my comfort series, and it was comforting.

Work theme of the week: Legal research and Summer Associates.

Life pattern of the week: Hearing from loved ones from my past.

Overall mood: Melancholy suffused with longing.

Overall lessons: Yes, life goes by in a flash, try to live well and love fully every day.

World political theme: Hubris, lying, evil, war.

Local weather: Spring verging on summer.

Challenge: Not becoming bitter.

Goal: Dance.

Food Happiness of the week: Chicken Paprikash with 5 kinds of brown rice and garlicky collard greens made in the brazilian style.

Proudest moment: Conversing honestly but with love.

Nicest smell: Lemons on the counter.

Debt of the week: Something nice for my sister who did my taxes again this year.

Song to end with: The Other Side by David Gray.

saturday - a most excellent breakfast

Today is Saturday. One day before the new time change (this bothers me in the way mindless irksome new laws that are justified to save money and do no such thing are irritating.) Though Jon Stewart had a hilarious sketch on the Daily Show about the impending Time Change Disaster which made me laugh. Since I am irritated by this new sped up change, I refuse to pay attention to it. In fact, I am going to ignore any devices that refuse to change and be like those irritating people who travel to different time zones and say "It's 3 am for me now! I should be tired!"

Do I sound grouchy? I must be.

However, I did have the best breakfast ever - this morning. I woke up at about 9:30 and longed for a diner-ish experience, preferably at the Rockridge Cafe. We went, and surprisingly there was no wait.
I like the Rockridge Cafe because it has REAL maple syrup, and real honest-to-god butter. I always get some form of pancake/waffle regardless of anything else I order, just because I want to support a restaurant that cares enough to serve REAL MAPLE SYRUP. Anyway, alongside my whole-wheat waffle (excellent) I ordered some concoction that was eggs scrambled with chorizo sausage, with cheese, stacked on some corn (tostadas? - they were hard) and then on top had a generous dollop of sour cream and lots of seasoned guacamole sauce. OMIGOD were they good. So good that I ate most of it. (Well, with a waffle and a meal, it was plenty.)Oh wait! I found the official description:

~ Tortillas Piladas con Guacamole y Huevos 9.25 ~

We scramble chorizo sausage in 2 eggs with green onions, Monterey Jack cheese, and Miguel’s homemade avocado tomatillo sauce. We cover a tostada tortilla with the scrambled egg mixture, and layer another tortilla and eggs atop. On the stacked tortillas we pour more of the sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and top with a dollop of sour cream. Served cut in wedges

However, mine was not cut in wedges. But still yummy as can be. Not to mention they brew a fine cup of coffee and serve it in a nice thick white diner kinda cup. However the white sugar on the table, is, frankly, not so good. Will have to bring some rapadura in to make it truly scrumptious and a little more healthy.

From there we went to the toy store on 4th street in Berkeley and bought a few of the Japanese "re-ment" miniature boxes of Japanese products. (Think doll-house tiny.) Cooking supplies, stationery supplies, Japanese food, all rendered in exquisite detail and unbelievable care for functionality. (The teeny tiney pencils don't write but they fit in the pencil case, and the notebooks all have real paper, sewn spines and the graphs and styling just like the originals.) They are from a company called re-ment and are very addictive to collect because you do not know which set of 10 different varieties you might get when you buy a box in that series. (The sushi series, the school supply series, etc.) I bought 6 boxes, and got a Japanese pencil case, pencils, ruler, erasers, pen, notebook and pencil sharpener in one box. It was perfect, because when I lived in Japan I used to collect pencil boxes and erasers. (Yes, I did.)

Here's the US Website for re-ment with scary hyper-blonds. And here is the Japanese Website. This new find is not my own however, I have to thank one of my staff - who gifted me with 2 boxes last week.

Now I am reading blogs, thinking thoughts about legal research, re-reading some of my favorite Liaden books for the 3rd or 4th time, and generally just relaxing the day away.

Hope your Saturday was as nice as mine was. I know your breakfast probably wasn't. If you come visit me, I'll take you to Rockridge Cafe and maybe the Tortillas Piladas con Guacamole y Huevos will be on the menu.

high-flying aristocratic me

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Marchioness Schelle the Arboreal of Frome Valley Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I think what would have been really cool about this is if you could post a few things about yourself, and somehow this would roll up nicely in your silly title. This one appealed because of the Arboreal (in a valley) quality.

Continuing on my Legal research brainstorming, today is all about legal research assignments for summers. Idea is this: take (real) sample assignment and let each of them brainstorm alone on paper for a little while on possible approaches. Discuss. Talk about why this or that strategy is good, or less good. Put them into 2 teams. Tell them they have 30 minutes to play out a team research strategy whichever way they like. Online, no online? Only using print? At the end of 30 minutes, must write quick memo. 2 paragraphs (consult with attorney on this point to see what type of legal memo would be ideal) Read/Share memo? and then discuss. Vote on best results? Prizes awarded.

Show them an ideal one? Librarian enhanced one? Hmmmm.

That sounds actually like a 2 hour project. A bit ambitious for one hour.

But interesting possibilities?

a little break for a cold

I've not been around blogging, but I've been enjoying a quiet house to myself for the last few weeks and I've been recovering from a cold, so that has kept me mellow.
I should have kept a daily log of the last few weeks to see what it is I do when I'm alone. Mostly I cleaned the house, watched a little TV, read a few books, surfed the Web, and I have been working late way too many nights. It's easy to stay late when you have no reason to be home at a specific time.

I have also been brainstorming about teaching legal research to associates. How to do it, how to make it relevant, how I am failing in some ways, succeeding in others, and what I can do to improve.

I probably need to find a powerful partner to be on my side. Am thinking of approaching someone if I can carve out a few minutes of his/her attention.

As for legal research writ large - I have had ideas, and am using my most wonderful VooDooPad to keep my thoughts organized. I should publish it all to the Web, but I want to wait until I have more things to say. I realized that if I want to have anything important to say, I have to see what else has been said and done and published. The only thing I know for sure is that most summer associates and 1st year associates are ill-prepared for legal research in a law firm, and it usually doesn't improve. Perhaps I'll have an article or two at the end of this. I don't care about publishing to get something "published" I'm not in Academia (thank God!) so I just want to help other law librarians with this if there is something worthy to share.

Here's one of my brainstorming sessions, only partially complete, and it surely needs to be edited, but just a taste, here it is for your reading delectation:

LEGAL RESEARCH - MAIN POINTS
• In a law firm, you should always start with a treatise or a practice guide. This will save you enormous amounts of time. Practice material will give you the bearings on where to begin with your research, tell you where an issue has been, where it is now, direction it is heading. Point you to all important statutes, regulations and cases.
• You should never be searching in cases until you have a firm understanding of your issue. Cases update the treatises, and other research, you should only need to search caselaw on Wexis to supplement and update what you have already found elsewhere.
• If your issue is a procedural question, you should be looking in procedural resources.
• Statutes are the law. Always go to the relevant statute and read it/them.
• Find out if there are regulations related to your statutes. Agencies are empowered by statutes to create rules to enforce the statutes. This is called rulemaking. Your Federal rulemaking sources are the CFR and the Federal Register.
• Know what the Federal Register is and when you need to use it.
• Know what a final rule is.
• Know why you might sometimes need to look at a proposed rule.
• Know what the CFR is.

(At this point I quit, and realized I should look back at the MacCrate report inspired Legal Research material posted at AALL.)

Here was a bit about librarians...

• Librarians are a resource.
• Librarians save time.
• Librarians should be able to help you find all of the available resources on a topic.
• Librarians should know or be able to find all the relevant treatises, databases, articles, etc., that cover your topic so that you don't miss anything.
• Librarians usually know the fastest way to find the answer to a discreet question.
• Librarians are experts at formulating complex search strategies.
• Librarians should help you think about an issue in a new way.
• Librarians do not judge. Okay, we only judge if we never see you. Then we judge that you are not using your resources wisely.
• Librarians do not judge you if you do not know the answer.
• Librarians do not judge you if you have made a mistake, they just want to help.
• Librarians are here to save you time and money.
• Librarians know that when you succeed, the client succeeds, and we succeed. We want to help you succeed - that is what makes our day. Every interaction with a librarian is based on the fact that a librarian wants to help you succeed.
• The more information you give a librarian about your issue, the better job the librarian will do and the better the results will be.

So, that is where my head has been. Lots of work to do. Have been perusing the literature. Continuing to brainstorm GAMES as a way to make this STICK.

El Corazon, or, shot through with an arrow

Happy Valentines day! Hope your day was sweet! Mine was, because Sees decided to open up a special Valentine's day stand in the building across the street from my office, precisely where I go to get coffee everyday. So this morning my resistance was low, and Peet's in hand, I bought some candy - one for work and one for my sister. Our library family enjoyed a sugar high today, and I will successfully resist the box of candy at home.

For some giddy humor to go with the day, you must visit Catherine Newman's blog.

I was up too late last night, so I will make an early night of it.

Sweet Dreams.

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Reading Roundup

Back at work. Worked hard all day. Listening to Carmina Burana right now. Not tired of it yet. Saw that it will be performed in Portland by the Oregon Symphony. I'm thinking about getting tickets and taking a trip up there to see it. But after checking the Website, looks like the tickets are only available to various subscriber packages. Maybe I'll have to give the box office a call to see if there are any exceptions.

Iran & Iraq

Build up to an Iran conflict Wes Clark Daily Kos: Is War with Iran Inevitable?

Powerful Women and how society deals with them....Or wait, how they deal with society....

What was so great about Catherine? By Laura Miller Feb. 13, 2007 Salon.com Books. This review makes me want to read the book, but I suspect the reviewer makes it more interesting than the book reads. I'll have to see. Nice bit on our (and all?) culture's perceptions and discomfort with successful, powerful women.

A ‘Rebellious Daughter’ to Lead Harvard

Eco-Madness

I clean green but the dishes don't gleam! I use nonpolluting products wherever I can -- but this brand-name commercial stuff really makes plates and glasses sparkle! By Cary Tennis Feb. 13, 2007 Salon.com Life. O God, this could be me. Hilarious. Cary made me laugh tonight. Oh we are silly, but I have to admit, I've noticed the same thing with my dishwashing eco-tablets. At some point I'll get to all the excellent (I'm sure) articles linked at the bottom of his column.

Science and Health

Surgeon Transplants Ovary Into Woman What a wonderful development!!! Maybe this will someday allow women who want to have a career to have children later in life - safely and with less infertility.

Male Sweat Can Boost Arousal in Women Well, this one is something I've known for years, and many other folks have suspected - probably since relations between men and women began. I guess if you needed the proof of science, well, here it is. I think the sweat aspect of it is just for kicks, the "substance" is more like the pheromones we all have and exude. (But then, does exude sound nastier than sweat?) Not sure on that one. (Oh, and when do they find the pheromones produced by women?)

A kind of modern day book-burning

EPA Libraries: Where Do They Stand Now? A fairly dispassionate overview of the EPA library situation, with lots of links. News of this has made me want to scream ever since the news first broke. This is similar to the sacking of the Iraq museums and libraries, only we did it here at home. What crimes this administration has committed via mis-management and waste is hard for me to fathom. This has set environmental researchers and litigators back years, but they don't know it yet - most have no clue what this means to them and don't really understand why they should care. Maybe not even when a case hinges on getting access to a document and they can't because the documents don't exist anymore. Much of the collection has already been destroyed and in some cases, the only existing copies have been lost. Heartbreaking. This is what happens when you put partisan hacks in charge of our historical and intellectual heritage.

And for a little light librarian humor

March of the Librarians

Of greening and general tidiness

So my weekend of no plans ended up as a (desperately needed) home weekend full of cleaning and gardening and chores. My sister and I carted out boxes of decorations from the holidays, re-arranged furniture, and generally tidied up. I laugh at the idea that what I do in the yard is called something as innocuous and pleasant sounding as "gardening." That sounds way too romantic and buccolic.

In our case, it should be called yard-blitzing or something, because what I did today was rip and cut (and cut and cut and cut) and cart and dig and yank and other violent activities. Frankly, after 4 hours of that, I'm afraid to report that it looks the same as it did before I started. I know I did the work though, so I'll just have to accept that I did accomplish something. (I'm pretty sore though, so there is that proof.) Our yard is so overgrown with GIANT plants that it really looks primieval. At one time the yard was probably suitably-sized, gorgeous and very disciplined. We've got various kinds of lavender, purple and pink flowering trees, beautiful roses, palms (?), and had raspberry bushes (which we may have killed with neglect, finally.) I think the people who owned the house before us kind of kept things somewhat in check, they actually kept a plot with potatoes and vegies and stuff. We've moved in and have let things really go wild with neglect. With our mild Alameda weather and lots of rain over the last few years, well, all the plants have done their thing and grown and grown and grown. We thought we really wanted a huge yard when we were looking at houses, and this one had a very long and satisfying backyard plot. The reality is that we are HORRID gardeners. We are trying to improve things by considering the gardening exercising and once we get out there we really enjoy it.

So, so far so good with that plan. 2 years ago I did try to plant some lettuce and other things in the back plot, but the racoons and other animals ate them all up immediately. That was so disheartening that I didn't try again. I guess I shouldn't be such a baby - I should try various nets and fences and things, but haven't summoned up the enthusiasm for that. There are probably vegies that are not palatable to our animal neighbors which I should try if I ever attempt vegetables again. We have planted a few fruit trees, some have died right away, but one is thriving and actually fruited some plums last summer, which I never got to taste because the squirrels were ALL-OVER them as soon as they ripened. I think we have to wait until there is significant quantity to outlast the birds and squirrels before we actually get to enjoy fruit from our own trees. A few years ago I planted a lemon tree in the sunniest part of the yard, but it is really struggling. I've got to cover it because some animal loves to nibble on the lemon leaves. They must be tasty.

Other than that, I've been trying to keep up on the news and all the blog feeds I read (lost cause) and here are a few things that caught my attention today and yesterday: Talking Points Memo is currently highlighting this editorial on Iraq and the current rhetoric to escalate the war into Iran (which is so horrific a thought I can't think it without experiencing internal shudders each time I read about it anywhere) by General William Odom in the Washington Post. Victory Is Not an Option The Mission Can't Be Accomplished -- It's Time for a New Strategy. Most of the military retired higher-ups (and most anyone who has served in a violent conflict) have no illusions about war, and the path our current direction in this war is leading. Usually those who have experienced war do not glorify it or want it unless it is the absolute last possible option to protect and defend those they love. I think the last few experiences of war for most Americans have been too sanitized and much like video games - divorced of consequence and reality. It is easier to remain untouched by the realities if all you see or hear about are "intelligent" bombs that look like fireworks filmed from far away. A complicit and lazy press who no longer knows how to go beyond the spoon-fed pap given to them by the administration facilitates this ignorance. We are all complicit if we do nothing, and so then, what is the average person like me to do? I'm still trying to figure that out, only feeling the need to DO something with greater and greater urgency.

On a similar note, there was also this yesterday from 'Just World News' by Helena Cobban Choice time: unravel Al-Qaeda or fight Iran?

And this which kind of turned my stomach: OH, ICKKKK!!!!! Over-the-Counter Weight-Loss Drug Is Approved The side effects are so lovely. My first thought in response to this article was: What about the fats your body needs to be healthy and feel full so that you aren't tempted to overeat? Why do I feel like this is all half-assed backwards as a "solution?"

Okay, enough writing, have a lovely week. I've got to get back to cleaning the house.

del.icio.us: gardening cleaning politics

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Degrees of serendipity

The Lessig blog has a post with a link to the Web2.0 video that is making the rounds on everyone's blog. It really IS awesome and worth a peek. Saw so many references to it, I decided it had to be watched, but then before I did that, I saw something in the comments section of this post about this wonderful article by Jonathan Lethem in Harpers, on the impossible to untangle goodness of where text and writing and thought come from, and is anything really original? Good god I love the random connectedness of the Web. (And yes, when you think about it, it does make perfect sense to have this article posted on this blog right there in those comments.)

It is the weekend, and I have plans to hang out with a friend tomorrow and then after that, really, actually, Do Nothing Much At All. Those are the plans.

As good as these 'do nothing' plans are, I have some "to-do" creep. I have to put away boxes of holiday decorations (shame!) and if I feel really responsible about my job, slog away at some things I can't seem to get done at work because I am too busy. Things are starting to fall through the cracks with greater regularity, which is appalling and unacceptable(!) So perhaps, maybe I do actually need to formally request another staff person (or two) - even though I have found this thought extremely hard to get my head around.

Oh, and one final musical tip: If you want to listen to wonderful music and support girlyman you can accomplish this by pre-ordering their upcoming CD!

Nice bit about the US media by Juan Cole

Juan Cole, a genius on all thing Iraq (as gory and unpleasant as it is to read, necessary if you want to have a window on the horrific reality of day-to-day happenings there) has a few well-stated paragraphs in his post today on the Media in this country:

Rupert Murdoch, who gives you Bill O'Reilly, Daniel Pipes, and other fantasists of the hard Right by his ownership of a vast media empire admitted at the Davos conference that his companies had "tried" to propagandize for Bush's Iraq War. He said that they were critical of the execution of the war, though. He doesn't watch or read his own media if he thinks that. It is never a discouraging word and 'what were the RNC talking points today?' over there in Foxland.

Murdoch's remarks are a good reason for which the news conglomerates should be broken up so that a wider range of views can be published. While Murdoch complains about competition from the internet, the fact is that far more people watch television than get their news from any blogger.

Murdoch's media have done more to cheapen American values and drive the country toward fascistic ways of thinking than anything since the McCarthy period in the 1950s. The airwaves belong to the public, and this man only licenses them. When will the public take them back and use them for purposes of which Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Franklin would have approved?

Changing the subject dramatically, slept most of the day away today, and pretty much got nothing done. I tried to ignore the computer and depressing news, but was unsuccessful. Now that I've got Tivo, most of the stuff I watch is like mind-candy, and so any thoughtful insight (other than Jon Stewart - our nation's court jester) comes via the blogs and online newspapers.

This next bit will only be of interest to you if you have a Mac. More in my saga to find the perfect killer app for my Mac:
I've noticed though, now that I have downloaded and started using VooDooPad on my mac, I have less desire to post to my blog and create anything major on the Web. I actually wanted it so that it would make it easier for me to post on my blog. But it is fulfilling my need to write about what I am reading and keep track of it all.
Early days now to see how I'll really integrate the software into my life, but so far it feels like the closest thing to the way I've always wanted and thought a Mac would work for me. I am under no illusions, everyone uses their computer in wildly different ways, so a killer application for me is not going to be that for everyone else. For me, not having a nice repository for all the things I have read - the documents, pdfs, recipes, websites, bloggy bits I want to keep, etc., has been irritating. Yes, you can save them into folders, but it is not easy to go back and find what you need, and get a sense of context of what you were reading and thinking at that time. Now, I can save the pdf of a document from the Web right into the day's journal on my pad, write about it, add images, video (though I haven't tried that yet, come to think of it) and if I had a drawing pad, could add artwork, etc, etc. All of which can be output in html or some sort of blog style output that I might be able to use here. However, my caveat from before remains the same - it will be interesting to see how the software performs when I need to find something weeks or years down the road.
I had been using Zotero, but it really seems to be targeted to an academic community, the scholars who have access to full-text article databases and need to organize their pdfs for later citation. It was a little clunky, you had to save pdfs in folders and point to them, which meant that each item had to have lots of bibliographic data entered by hand. (Which points out one of the reasons that the VooDooPad is so cool, you simply save the pdf to the page, and click on the link and the pdf opens from there.) It just wasn't proving to be what I needed, so I'll probably uninstall it soon.

I'm not the only one

More from Josh Marshall tonight on the Sabre rattling about Iran: Edge of the Abyss

some people just say it better than I ever could

Like the line says, first do no harm. And for the United States as a country, right now, that means doing everything constitutionally, legally and politically possible to limit the president's and even more Vice President Cheney's free hand to shape and execute American foreign policy. Sift it all out and it's that simple. Stop them from doing any more damage. All the rest is commentary and elaboration.

Josh Micah Marshall

(Best to read the whole post.)

On the way home I had an idea to create a Website listing each Bush action to disable the separation of powers and the constitution (signing statements, "commander in chief", wiretapping, habeas corpus, torture memo, etc.) using plain english language examples of what the effect each Bush & co. action has had on our constitutional democracy. I even named this imaginary Website: "Dismantling the American Constitutional Democracy" (actually, I think it was catchier than that, I can't remember now.)
Anyway, the idea was to publish a news story, like yesterdays: Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation, and then in very plain English, relate what this actually will mean for the average joe and jo-ess.

For example: With this 'directive" President Bush has decided that he is also the decider on what congress has intended laws to mean over the last 231 years. From now on, all the agencies, like the Food and Drug administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc., must abide by Bush's understanding of how congress intended to enforce its laws. Which drugs need to be tested? How clean does the air have to be? etc. Bush now believes he can rewrite the rulebook too. How fast can our rules and regulations change? Give it 6 months to a year, and we have a whole new bright and shiny playing field for our corporate citizens. (Ok, I was thinking of making it less partisan and more constitutional, but that is beyond me for tonight.)
Of course I'd have brilliant contributers to actually write said plain english "what this means to you" commentary.

On the way home this evening it seemed like one of those brilliant ideas. I had a lot of energy then. Has someone already done this? - I'd love to see it.

That's about all folks. Not much more to say than that today, and someone else said it for me. Josh: from your blog to God's ears.

New-age pepys-ness with VoodooPad goodness

Ok, this is an experiment, mostly for me, which I am now inflicting on you.

I've been having a grand time playing around with my new toy which is VoodooPad on my Mac (sorry PC users, only for Mac X folk) and having way too much geeky fun. I am sure it can do amazing things that I don't yet do, but if you've ever played around with a wiki even for a little while, you'd glom on to why having a personal system integrated wiki is pretty cool. (It is not integrated enough for my liking, but I guess that is what all the plugins that I do not yet know how to use are for.)

Anyway, to get to the point of why this is an infliction on you dear reader (all 3 of you!) well, it is because I decided to try to track (most) of the articles I read today on my Voodoopad. If this application was truly integrated, I could output from the pad directly into my blog. Perhaps there is a plugin for that, and I just have to find it.

So here goes, most of what I read today, but not work stuff, and not all the random bits that I skimmed. It was an experiment to see what I was reading, and later, to see if VooDooPad helps me find it again. That part of the experiment will have to wait for the future.

Today's reading list for Monday, January 29, 2007

Barbaro Is Euthanized
By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

Cary Tennis column in Salon.com

WH memo to '08 GOP Senators: "F You."

Into a New World of Librarianship (I wasn't sure if I was all that impressed by this, but oh well.)

Sandy Berman I remember hearing about Sandy during library school, as that would have been about the time of the events in this article. He was (is) a big deal. I'm sure he was a real pill to work with, but with a different management style, things could have worked out amazingly well for the library system. (It did not, they lost a great treasure.)

Ginger~Garlic~Coriander Paste : For Jihva (Allam Vellulli Kottimera Mudda) I think I want to learn to cook everything on this blog.

Book Review BEATRIX POTTER By Nature, an Artist and Children's Author By Elizabeth Hand

Book Review: FLEDGLING By Octavia E. Butler Love at First Bite Humans and vampires try to get along. Reviewed by Ron Charles (A review of the last book by an author whose untimely death saddened me greatly. I just became old and wise enough to enjoy and appreciate Octavia's books.

Silicon Valley Rebounds, Led by Green Technology By LAURIE J. FLYNN
There was a very similar story about these companies I read recently but I have no idea where. Wired? Salon.com? SFGate? One of those anyway. Will be interesting to see if good things happen with these alternative energy companies. (I added them to my (new) companies to watch page on my VooDooPad.

From Google Blog Find and compare local businesses 1/29/2007 08:30:00 PM
Posted by Ronojoy Chakrabarti, Product Manager. I think I've seen these searches before, but here he lists "local" search developments. Interesting. The searches - his list, but I reformatted it to show the actual searches that I did based upon my local preferences:

* Find the location of and driving directions to the Googleplex (or any specific address). Search: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA (Ok, this was his search.)
* Find and compare Mexican restaurants in Alameda, CA search: Mexican restaurants in Alameda, CA
* Get directions to and read reviews about a local eatery / restaurant. search: Chez Panisse Berkeley, CA
* Find movie showtimes for films that are playing in your neighborhood. search: movies San Francisco.

10 Government Hacks By Tim O'Reilly on January 29, 2007 (I didn't have the patience for the actual speech, I think it was taking way too long to download. For another time.)

Our Little Churchills Glenn Greenwald - best blog writing of the day. His posts are consistently amazing. Scary times.

The Unraveling of Dick Cheney By Dan Froomkin Special to washingtonpost.com Monday, January 29, 2007; 12:18 PM (What in the world do we do when our leaders seem to belong in the looney bin?)

Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation Be afraid, be very very afraid. Scariest article I read all day.

Law Firms: “The Last Vestige of the Medieval Guild System
Posted by Peter Lattman

This is a link to the WSJ law blog post about the speech. The comments are interesting too. The article is titled "Cisco General Counsel on State of Technology in the Law" but half way down is a critique of the big law firm model.

Hmm, this was a lot of work for basically a list of links I could have done from del.icio.us. Ah well, interesting anyway.

Happy reading....

Update: had to fix some odd link issues - blogger beta is still really beta-ish. Going to have to hand-code all links from now on.... Unless I change platforms, that is.

Food and Nutrition - some articles of note

More and more people are discovering what Udo Erasmus first wrote about in 1986 in "Fats that Heal Fats that Kill" and in the 1999 collection of recipes, articles and references, by Sally Fallon with Mary Enig titled "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats."

Tonight I read an article from the New York Times Sunday Magazine by Michael Pollan basically saying what Erasmus, Fallon and many others have been saying for a while: the "Diet Dictocrats" have it all deadly wrong.

Read the article: Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times Magazine, January 28, 2007.

Pollan's recommendations in a nutshell (and I very much have selectively cut his wonderful list, you need to read the article):

1. "Eat food." ..."Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food."
2. "Avoid food products that come bearing health claims."
3. "Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup."
4. "Get out of the supermarket whenever possible."
5. "Pay more, eat less." (Eat organic, home grown, low pesticide, beautifully, thoughtfully prepared foods.)
6. "Eat mostly plants, especially leaves." (We eat too much based on seeds, not enough plants.)
7. Eat a traditional diet (eat the way traditional cultures eat, not a modern American supermarket diet.) (See Nourishing Traditions" again, above.)
8. "Cook. And if you can, plant a garden."
9. "Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases."

Pollan refers to the July 7, 2002 What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? article by Gary Taubes about the "shocking" news from studies showing that low-fat diets do not impart any healthful benefits. Again, if you read "Nourishing Traditions" or "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill," that would not come as much of a surprise.

Unfortunately, (as the past 10 years of my life will attest?) the advice is really hard to live. It is difficult to eat healthily when you get up at 7:00, rush to work, grab some coffee, a quick lunch and are home at 7 or 8 too tired to do any creative (or otherwise) cooking. The easiest thing is to eat something quick to prepare and that often doesn't fit the recommendations in any of these books.

Basically, what everyone is saying is this: eat as close to natural food (food from the actual plant or animal, with no processing, and cooked with natural or organic ingredients) as you can. Eat mostly plants, eat small portions, don't worry much about the fats at all, unless you use hydrogenated products, margarine, or supermarket (heat processed) vegetable oils, which are almost as bad as the hydrogenated kinds. Meat from humanely raised animals tastes better, as does any food grown on healthy land, and it is better for you too.

At the very least, I try to make sure I get some vegetables in my lunch or dinner each day, but not even close to enough, I'm sure. I gave up eating anything with corn syrup a few years ago, cut down on my sugar drastically (but could do better,) and no longer eat anything with hydrogenated (trans) fats nor use much vegetable oils. I prefer poultry and meats raised humanely and cooked from scratch, and know from my palate that the skin, fat and bones impart tremendous flavor. (The fashion for skinless, boneless chicken leaves me cold - it tastes like bad cardboard. Why bother? A good rule of thumb: if it tastes that bad, it can't possibly be good for you!) However, the lack of leafy green and other vegetables in my diet is a problem. Ah well, to recognize the problem is the first step towards the solution.

How to change all this on my schedule though? I used to like to cook, now I have absolutely no energy for it when I am working. I guess it is good that I get some good things from Planet Organics, where we can usually order some prepared meals that are fairly healthy.

On a very much related note, Salon.com also had a very interesting article about raw milk and the various arguments for and against. Very interesting reading. Again, more of what Sally Fallon encourages in "Nourishing Traditions," she is very much a proponent of raw milk from spotless dairies, with grass-fed cows and farmers you know and trust. I've tried raw milk cheeses and butter, but I've not yet tried raw milk.

We are all looking for quick fixes in our hectic lives. Hard to go back to the old ways of preparing foods and cooking, which were very time intensive - all day affairs, actually. (As anyone who has cooked a thanksgiving meal can attest.) Our current lifestyle (if you work at a desk in an office, like I do) is health destroying in many ways, and eating factory farmed, manufactured and produced food is one of them. If only I had the money to go to really good restaurants (who use the best local and natural ingredients) every night! I guess I'm going to have to do the best I can to take the time each day to find, prepare and cook good food - but not stress to much about it. All things in moderation.

Salud!

At least there is some progress

IMG_0452.JPG,
originally uploaded by Alameda Aspens.

somewhere, of the sock variety.
Fun to knit, stretchier than I thought for cotton/poly. I think this is going to be more of an anklet sock, I just don't wear long socks anymore. Too there if you know what I mean.
Now I'm trying to resurrect a Website I made for my dad over 10 years ago, so this is it for me tonight...

What I remember most: the downhill

On Monday night I attended William J. Perry's lecture in the Fairmont Hotel's Gold room (same spot as our office holiday party!) sponsored by the Commonwealth Club. William Perry is a former Secretary of Defense under Clinton, and was one of the members of the Iraq Study Group.
I took a cab to the hotel because I was running late, thankfully, because somehow I forgot that it was WAY way waaay up hill. (How could I forget the Fairmont was on Nob Hill?!) The thing I remember most about the evening is walking back down the (very steep) hill. My calves are still aching but as I was walking, I felt very in-the-San Francisco-moment. Thankfully, the route on California Street down towards Montgomery was gorgeous, including cable cars, the edge of china town, and the bay bridge in the distance. It had that SF city vibe that I forget we have. (Kinda concerned my knees would collapse under the stress, but yay, they made it.)
I wasn't sure if I would make it to the lecture because it was on a Monday, I was so tired, and to be honest - afraid it would be boring. However, it is a bit of an incentive to know that I paid a nominal fee. Thankfully, I stayed awake and alert, pen and paper in hand, glasses on so I could see, and was, thankfully, impressed by William Perry's speech. He is a very good speaker, blunt, smart as a whip, and funny in a very dry way, which I adore.
Most memorable quote (about Bush): "Often in Error, Never in doubt."
He commented a couple of times that Bush's plan was "tactical not strategic," but I'm afraid I missed the nuance of that, but it did stick with me.
That's all folks, not going to rehash the speech. I am sure you will be able to download it and listen to it if you are so inclined.
Oh, and about the downhill...I've got to improve my night camera techniques, but this was why my legs were seriously quivery by the time I got to my car:
This is a short post, because gosh, all the political blogs say what the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report says better than I ever could and it would be boring. The things that struck me as oh so very sad were the comments about how one tiny portion of the ghastly 1.2 trillion we have spent on this war could have made serious in-roads into solving real problems like alternative energy & combating global warming. The irony. I am always struck when I listen to folks who served under Clinton that they are so intelligent and well-spoken. It makes me sad to think about the crap we have had to listen to coming from our "leaders" and the media over the past 6 years. The Romans had lead to blame, what can they blame on the downfall of our country? (I'm theorizing here: it will be Corn Syrup.) Yes, I think that was a joke, it was the first thing that came into my head, but on second thought, may not be far off the mark.
Slogging through the week at work, getting past my horrible New Year's realization that I am embarking on yet another year just like last year. Gonna have to continue to shake things up in a really big way. Not sure how, but I gotta do it.
This is the winner for loveliest post of the week.

What have I been up to lately?

Last night my sister and I went to see the movie Miss Potter - which was excellent, the first moments of Renee Zellweger's accent was a tiny bit odd, but within moments, she fit right in with the rest of the cast and I didn't notice any accent. It was nice to go out to a movie - I haven't been to a movie in a while. One thing about attending the SF International Film Festival on an all-film pass, is that I get very burned out on going to the theater - which is unfortunate because I LOVE seeing movies in the theater.
The Beatrix Potter story is wonderful, a talented woman with a life that was on a path of circumscription - but instead because of her books was able to make her own way in life and ended up saving acres of glorious farm land in the Lake District in the UK. Big thumbs up!

This morning I had to rush through what I had been looking forward to since Wednesday when I ordered some Chocolate Cherry bread from Zingermans. Omigod. So good. So good. I LOVE this bread. Order some and slice it, toast it, spread the slice with real honest to god butter, and eat it. The chocolate is creamy and melts in your mouth like a light creamy truffle, the cherries are tart and the bread!!! Okay, I'll stop. But you must order some of your own because I won't share.

Today I went to my acupuncture appointment which was utterly satisfying. Sometimes I get so riled up by the action going on in my bloodstream I feel like twitching right off the table and taking a run. This morning was the opposite - I was having a very interesting conversation with the acupuncturist, but could barely keep my eyes open. Once the needles were in, I went into a very trance-like meditative state and the hour passed by in a flash.
After that, a visit to Article Pract on Telegraph Avenue to pick up some yarn for a class my sister and I are taking tomorrow on making socks using the "toe up" method. I hope I have enough yarn for my huge feet. I had the freeing realization that if I finish this project (I've had a bad habit of not finishing knitting projects lately) I'll probably only wear the socks around the house - so it doesn't matter if they don't go with anything I own.
The women at the counter had some raised eyes at my using a cotton (instead of flexible cozy warm wool?) for the project, but the yarn was so tempting! It is Nashua Handknits "cilantro colors" line but this particular color mix is called "mango mix" which fits. Shades of melony orange to orangey tan and yellow.
Wonderful. It's a cotton poly blend, which I usually shun, but this time I thought it would wash and wear well. Cotton can be unforgiving to knit, so it was important to make these with yarn that had some give, which the polyester should provide.
After shopping, I had my favorite Korean food: ground-soybean stew. I usually have cravings for this and today it was so comforting and cozy.
By the time I got home late in the afternoon the accupuncture aftereffects and lack of sleep last week caught up with me and I ended up sleeping deeply for about 4 hours. Now I'll be off schedule again, but I do feel incredibly well-rested right at the moment.
I've been on a HUGE Carmina Burana kick lately. A few weeks ago I heard a show on the radio about Orff who composed this work, and was caught immediately by the music (which is really popular and has been used in so many movies and commercials - where have I been?!) I've now loaded 3 different versions onto my ipod and have actual preferences! Shocks even me.

1. London Symphony Orchestra with St Clement Danes Grammar School Boys choir, Andre Previn. EMI CDC7 37411-2 (ADD)- This one seems the most dramatic and joyful on the part of the performers. It seems like the singers actually understand the intent of the words. I love the baritone Thomas Allen in this one. Only problem is scratchy bits in some places because of the transfer from analog to digital.
   
2. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa. Manda, Kolk, Milnes RCA GD 86533. This one is growing on me. It is a modern and clean recording, so the music and words are balanced and it is fun to listen to.
   
3. Philharmonic Choirs and Orchestra, Muti. HMV CDC7 47100-2/Capitol CAP 47100. This one is leaves me a little cold. There doesn't seem like there is a lot of feeling and life behind the performances. The notes I've read state that this may because of a bad transfer.
   

I don't know why some things just hit you in the gut (for me it manifests as chills going through me the minute I hear something fantastic) and you absolutely have to know everything about it and hear it again. I tend to go a little overboard. At some point the risk is that burnout may occur and you never want to see or hear it again. Now thanks to ipods and the Web and all that, research is easier, and nobody else has to know about your obsession - unless you blog about it, of course.
I've never really been attracted to Opera music (however, my musical colleague at work tells me that this is not considered Opera - it is choral and symphonic.) Ah well, whatever it is called, I'm having a ball listening to the music and realizing that I really enjoy reading the latin lyrics. Another surprise. The lyrics of Carmina Burana are enjoyable, wonderful to know they were written in the 1200's and are utterly timeless in describing obsessive love, lust, gambling, drinking, fate, and the joys of life lived fully. What fun. I especially enjoy something that does not have centuries of moralizing periods of history censoring the lyrics. Here's a bit from the most popular first stanza of O Fortuna:

O Fortuna ------- O luck,
velut Luna ------- like the moon
statu variabilis, ------- ever changeable
semper crescis ------- always waxing
aut decrescis; ------- or waning;
vita detestabilis ------- hateful life
nunc obdurat ------- is one moment hard
et tunc curat ------- and the next moment watches over
ludo menis aciem, ------- the mind's playful acumen;
egestatem, ------- poverty,
potestatem ------- power
disolvit ut glaciem. ------- it melts like ice.

I've always wondered why the 3 tenors were so popular with so many and left me cold. Well, now I know. I prefer baritones! Interesting. I think one of the reasons I love Carmina Burana is because the main male soloist is a baritone. This entire experience has made me feel that I just need to develop a more robust musical knowledge. I think I've enjoyed this experience of really delving into a work so much that I'll have to find something else to explore once this wears off. Part of it may be that I simply enjoy the sound of medieval music and this is based on medieval latin and german poetry. When I was in Paris I bought a CD of music performed in Sainte Chapelle which I recognized and loved immediately on some deep levels - it surprised and shocked me a little to have that sense of recognition. So maybe it is medieval music and not classical music that I should delve into next. I'll give it a try.
I also was very impressed last night by an article titled The Online Library Catalog: Paradise lost and Paradise Regained? I read by Karen Markey, a professor I loved and worked with at Michigan. She brilliantly consolidated various areas of research about research behavior, catalogs, searching, Web developments and the library catalog into one article. I think is going to be pretty popular and important. It really made me think about the idea I had in library school about users adding information to catalog records to enhance them and make them into living research documents. (Like research notes on the old cards from card catalogs.) At the time the technology was not there to really play with this idea, but now with wikis and other software it is absolutely doable. I would love to work on a prototype of a wiki catalog. Anyone game?
Another impactful article was actually written last summer in the law blog - Bag & Baggage, because it discussed the plight of the current associate bigfirm lifestyle and how parenting (motherhood, in particular) was incompatible with current law firm employment. Well, not to be a bleeding heart for BigLaw attorneys (god knows they make way more money than I ever will) but it hits at points about the structure of law firms, and how things are going to have to change on so many levels because the system is so broken now....
Oh, and to finish this off with a bit of foodie glory. Gourmet magazine did some ranking of milk chocolate, and here are the top 3:

1. Bernard Castelain: Creamy, good balance; smooth and delicious. Said one dark-chocolate lover: "I've had three pieces, and that's huge!"
2. Lindt Excellence: Luscious in the mouth; vanilla and caramel finish.
3. Green & Black Organic: Good mouthfeel; slightly bitter (those who don't like dark chocolate might not like this one).

To see the full list, you have to go here.
Truly, todays post has lived up to my blog monniker.
cheers!

lightening up tonight - some sweetness 4 U

I've been focusing on politics and global warming and all kinds of fairly intense issues for the past few days and things are getting a little too intense. I really, really need to lighten up. So here goes:


FUN things about today:

• Lucky Country Soft Aussie Licorice Red Gourmet OK, I really bought this the other day, but it is so very yummy and was the original item that spurred this list.
  
• Bendicks Bittermints "The ORIGINAL and MOST FAMOUS BENDICKS MINT, THE CONNOISSEUR'S FAVOURITE" ENROBED in CHOCOLATE CONTAINING: 95% COCOA SOLIDS This is actually a purchase in an attempt to cut down on my sugar intake. The theory goes like this: These are oh so very pepperminty that tiny bites make this last for a very long and satisfying time. So you only need one! So far so good. (One a night, not one an hour, mind you.)
  
• Milky (A japanese milk candy. Ingredients: millet jelly, vegetable oil, salt, soy lecithen, powdered milk.) oh yeah, and this site is in japanese - and oh so very kawaii. I've loved these since I was about 8. When I was a kid the highpoint of train travel in Japan was getting to choose candy for the trip at the train station. Milky usually made the list because these are hard caramel-like candies and last a really long time.
  
• The Glory of Gershwin featuring Larry Adler. Oleta Adams, Kate Bush, Cher, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Jon Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Palmer, Courtney Pine, Carly Simon, Lisa Stanfsfield, Sting and introducing Issy Van Randwyck. This was actually a part of my trip to the library today (see below, and even before that, a radio show, see even below-er.)
  
• PG Tips DCaf From the box:"Many people wish to include only a moderate amount of caffeine in their diet. Drinking PG Decaf tea is a great way to help you do this whilst enjoying a fantastic tasting cuppa!" There is a slightly anglophile tilt to this list, I've noticed. See, I'm cutting the caffeine too! Actually I was very excited when I saw this for sale, I have had the full-on-caffeinated version of pg tips but can only have tea really early in the day or I am up all night long. 'Dcaf' is definitely the way to go if you simply must have your 'cuppa.'
  
• Getting new (old) books from Amazon in the mail today:
  
  
  
  • Zingerman's guide to good eating.
    
  • The Tenko Club by Elizabeth Noble
    
  • A Guide to Library Research Methodology by Thomas Mann
    
  • Against All Enemies:Inside America's War on Terror by Richard A. Clarke (okay, this is not all sweetness and light, but I was still happy to get it.)
    
  
  
  
• And walking over to the Mechanic's Institute library and checking these out:
  
  
  
  • The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke Edited and Translated by Stephen Mitchell
    
  • New Poems 1908 Rilke
    
  • New Poems 1907 Rilke
    
  • Gershwin Rediscovered II (CD)
    
  • American Landmarks (Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring, Roy Harris Symphony No. 3, Charles Ives Central Park in the Dark, Aaron Copland Clarinet Concerto) (CD)
    
  
  
  

Update 1: The Forum broadcast on KQED about George Gershwin which was really interesting & inspired some of my selections from the library today.

Yes, this is actually update number 2 if anyone is paying attention. I realized that I originally invested very little me in this post and had to put in a bit of commentary. Hope that is better. caio.

Poetry and the life force within

When I was in grad school at Michigan, I'd make the drive from Ann Arbor to Virginia a few times a year - usually with my 2 cats miserably accompanying me for the 8 hour journey. One trip I stopped at a rest stop and looked at the books on tape to try to make the trip go faster. I picked up the book on tape: And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran (Read by Andre Gregory.) The story was riveting, and I think that listening to that was the fastest 8 hours of driving I'll ever experience. I was upset when I got home before I got to the end. I am not sure how many hours the tape was, but it was an amazing story: a young french boy, blinded from an injury at school at the age of 7, (he hit his head on a desk) went on to create a youth resistance group in France during WWII. In 1943 he was betrayed and captured by the Nazi's and was sent to Buchenwald.
I was blown away by his writing, it was profound and inspiring. His way of describing and sensing things was enhanced by his blindness and life experiences.
Over the years I have thought of that book, and have tried to remember who it was about and what the title was, but then I would forget and move on to something else.
Recently I was talking to one of our vendors about our mutual interest in WWII history and I told him that I have always been interested in the history of the holocaust. I've wanted to understand the inconceivable: what made society disolve and turn into hell on earth? Why were some heroes, resistance fighters, rescuers, and most others collaborators and participants? I have also always been interested in spys and the underground resistance movements too. I mentioned this autobiography that I have never forgotten about a French blind resistance fighter who ended up in a concentration camp. I thought I remembered that "Light" was in the title.
After our conversation, armed with those memories, I went on google and immediately found the book. (Amazing what we can do on the Internet!) I also found a collection of Lusseyran's writings called Against the Pollution of the I: Selected Writings of Jacques Lusseyran which I also bought.
I have read the essays, and some I will have to re-read, because they are so layered and intense.
One that really affected me was the essay titled Poetry in Buchenwald. A (too simple) gist of the essay is that one of the things that energized and gave him (and others) hope and life force in the concentration camp, was reciting poetry and hearing others recite poetry. Not poetry by pessimists, he noted, but poetry by people he thought were particularly honest and human. I don't know if I know any poems well enough to ever recite them from memory, but perhaps if it was important enough to me I could dredge them up. (Emily Dickinson, maybe, I read so much of her poetry when I was younger.)
I'm not doing his essay justice, you'll just have to read it, but it has made me ashamed that I no longer take the time to read poetry, to seek it out. We live in such impatient times now, poetry takes leisure and thoughtful attention. Here is the list of poets he thought were particularly effective for sustaining the will to live:

• Victor Hugo
  
• Baudelaire
  
• Villon
  
• Ronsard
  
• Verlaine
  
• Apollinaire
  
• Aragon
  

I don't know if I'll find all of those poets, and in the end it doesn't matter, I'll find the ones that speak to me. I've always felt I need to read Rilke (here or here,) and now maybe that will give me the impetus to make it happen and include more poetry in my life.
Lusseyran ends his essay quoting himself: "Man is nourished by the invisible. Man is nourished by that which is beyond the personal. He dies from preferring their opposites."

About me, I think.

Politcal Compass Questionnaire
So I scored somewhere between Ghandi and the Dalai Lama. Hmmm. Really?
Economic Left/Right: -6.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

Not too surprising, but I bet if the questions were different - and I was thinking about different issues, I'd score differently.

Today I scored INFJ on this Kiersey type test:

• distinctively expressed introvert (Well, maybe, but you wouldn't really think that of me in some situations, like public speaking and one on one with people.)
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality (Hmm, this one should probably be much higher, but who knows.)
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• moderately expressed judging personality (yeah, maybe.)
  

If I test for the "me at work", I'm a much different "type" than I am in personal relationships at home. So a little healthy scepticism is always good. Another Ghandi connection, in this discription of "Counselor" Idealists. Well, yes, maybe that explains my habit of giving advice to anyone about anything from the time I was about 8. Funny. And this: "Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend."

Well, all for now. Going off to help my sister prepare lumpia.

alternate realities

In another reality the Supreme court never gave Bush the first election. In another reality Bush was not re-elected, in fact, he was committed to a rehab/psychiatric unit. In another reality Bush didn't begin to take potshots at Iran in order to embroil us in a full scale war in the Middle East.In this reality however, I'm having a hard time having the sense of humor to post a fluffy bit on my blog about anything.

The question of the hour for me is this: how long, how many days, is it going to take for the rest of the media, the Congress and the American people to realize that Bush has just escalated the hell out of this into a major conflagration the likes of which I shudder to contemplate?

I have never hoped more than I am hoping now, that I am reading the signs wrong, worrying needlessly, and events will move in a different direction. Cross your fingers, I am afraid it will be a very bumpy ride.

*Update* : Not long, as you can see in this from tpmcafe and Flynt Leverett.

puffery

I'm not sure if I really saw the word puffery when I was doing some legal research today, as I was flipping through pages of the California Business and Professions code on False Advertising (17500, if you care.) I thought I saw the word as a heading for some annotated case law.

For some unknown reason the word has stuck with me throughout the day today, through meetings, other research and right on into the evening. I have no idea why. Thus the
blog entry. It was originally going to be a cute feature called "word of the day" (and I guess it is, in a way) but now it is simply (almost) this entire entry.

Puffery - I imagine false advertising to make a product or something seem way more than it is. Puffery has to be one of the better words, sounds ridiculous (in a sweet way), and describes ridiculousness. (Puffed cereal comes to mind.)

Let me find a definition:
Oh my, a quick search in google shows me that I have happened upon a marketing and legal 'term of art.'

From the Marketing Terms Dictionary

puffery
- 1. (advertising definition) An exaggerated advertising claim that would be generally recognized as such by potential customers. 2. (consumer behavior definition) An advertising term implying gross exaggeration but usually not considered deception because it is assumed not to be believable. Examples are the mile-high ice cream cone or the world's softest mattress. 3. (sales definition) The exaggerated statements made by a salesperson about the performance of a product or service.

Not only that, but this wonderful record
from ERIC:

Title: The Great American Blow-Up: Puffery in Advertising and Selling.
Authors: Preston, Ivan L.
Descriptors: Advertising; Communications; Consumer Education; Consumer Protection; Federal Legislation; Laws; Mass Media; Merchandise Information; Propaganda; Public Relations; Publicize; Television Commercials

Publisher: The University of Wisconsin Press, Box 1379, Madison, Wisconsin 53701 ($11.95 cloth)
Publication Date: 1975-05-00
Pages: 345
Pub Types: Books
Abstract: Puffery refers to advertising statements which are not illegal, though they cannot be proven to be true. By legal definition, puffery is advertising or other sales representations which praise the item to be sold with subjective opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally, stating no specific facts. This book examines the history of puffery in advertising and selling, its present uses and effects on the consumer, its legal ramifications and governmental controls, and some recommendations for the eradication of false puffery. Such topics are discussed as falsity without deception, the roots of sellerism [emphasis mine], misrepresentation, avoiding the facts, the Federal Trade Commission, and puffery. Numerous examples of puffery are given and discussed. (TS)

Oh well, I could go on and on, but frankly, all this research is ruining the sheer joy I got from happening upon the word this afternoon. [Is "sellerism" an actual word?]

Massive change of topic alert:
I have been taken to task for promising a blog entry (or two) and not delivering. I swear I was going to tell the promised stories without the prodding...

Ford/Japan/WebINK/Michigan connection

When I was little, president Ford came to visit Japan.

Ford factoid I knew and still remember from that time: Ford had a reputation for tripping on airplane stairs.

My dad announced that our family was going to take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to Tokyo and "See the President."

I do remember wondering (and asking) why we cared since "Ford was Republican" and we were "Democrats." (My understanding at the time was the following: Democrats cared about people (good), and Republicans did not (bad) and furthermore, a previous Republican president had gotten into very bad trouble for lying about a water gate.)

So of course, I wondered why in the world this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a Democrat family to make a big deal out of going to see a (fibbing (but he did not lie), clumsy (but not really clumsy, after all, he was an ex-football player at Michigan) Republican - even if he was the President. I think the fact that Ford was a Michigan alum tipped the scales in his favor, but all I remember is that the concept of "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the President of the United States visiting the Emperor of Japan" and "experiencing history" was reiterated.

So we went, and I remember proudly waving a little tiny American flag (they were handed out) as the Fords went by (can't remember if I actually saw him, but maybe I did? I think there was some kind of Military family pep rally too) and being cold and eating cup-o-noodles with the freeze dried shrimp in them to warm up (but they didn't call them cup-o-noodles then, we called it "instant ramen".) But who knows if the freezing cold, Ford and cup-o-noodles happened on the same day?! Could have been summer, and I've munged a few memories together.

Nevertheless, years went by, Presidents came and Presidents went, and one day I was working at the Internet Public Library (IPL) at the University of Michigan School of Information and creating a magazine for Kids and teachers called "WebINK: (Internet Newsletter for Kids) to try to fund the IPL. One of the issues was about Politics and I remembered that President Ford was a Michigan grad. So of course, we contacted the archivist of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential library (which is in Ann Arbor) and asked if we could have some photos so that we could do a story on him.

Fast forward to the last week in December 2006, and the death of President Ford, death of Bo Schembechler and Michigan making the Rosebowl. My brother and I decided to surprise my dad with a Rosebowl/Pasadena visit including a "Chalk Talk" with Jim Harbaugh and his father. (I was the lucky trip companion.) Jim and his father had lots of Bo Schembechler stories, and one funny President Ford story. (After the loss in the presidential race against Carter, Ford visited the team, got in the huddle with the players, and said: "Do you know the side-sweep? I want you to sweep on over to the left and take out the reporters on the sidelines.")

Sadly, Michigan never seriously challenged USC and the Rosebowl game was pretty sad.

After we returned home on January 2nd, we watched a good bit of the Ford funeral coverage on TV. During the funeral they showed the Ford family and my dad commented that one of the Ford grandchildren was the spitting image of Ford as a child. That was pretty subjective, because after all, who had a picture of Ford as a child? I thought for a moment, said, "Wait!" and jumped up to see if I could find my bound copies of WebINk.

Lo and behold, there on the cover of the Politics issue was the picture I had used of President Ford as a child.

Yes, we all agreed, the grandchild WAS the spitting image of his grandfather.

So there you have it, Japan, WebINK, Michigan, Rosebowl and President Ford.

Puffery, now that is one cool word.

The Schelle 100

Inspired this evening by my favorite issue of Saveur "The Saveur 100: Our favorite foods, restaurants, drinks, people, places and things" (issue number 99 February 2007,) I've decided to compile my own 100 list. Perhaps a hackneyed blogging device, but heck, sounds like fun and so that's enough for me. I doubt I'll be able to list 100 things, though I am positive I have them. So perhaps this will be a work in progress. And these are in no particular order, but since I thought of this idea while taking a shower, the first things on the list are kind of on that cleanliness theme.

The Schelle 100:
1. Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Lemon Pure-Castile Soap. Maybe makes my skin a little too dry, but if not this soap (which smells like lemon chiffon) then perhaps french lemon verbena soap.
2. Jason Nutrismile Orange, cinnamon & mint All-Natural Ester-C CoQ10 Tooth Gel. You have to trust me on this one, makes brushing my teeth kind of enjoyable.
3. Vitamins from NewChapter Organics. These vitamins just make me feel good from start to finish. Can't explain it, but they've ruined me for other vitamins. And they are too damn expensive, but worth it.
4. Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Curl Creme - makes my hair a thing of wonder.
5. Pantene Relaxed and Natural Conditioner. Same as above, the two working together, I can actually wear my hair down, as long as the cut is good. Life-changing! (I think it works because it actually has jajoba and coconut oil in it.)
6. Saveur magazine. I look forward to this magazine each month. Cool design, nice layout, interesting articles. Oh yeah, and the recipes are good too.
7. The Best American ..... series of books. They come out each year and they have the best articles, stories, etc., compiled from the year. My favorites are The Best American Science Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and the Best American Essays. Yay for good articles that broaden my mind, are interesting, little gems of inspiration and education.
8. Ridiculously unrealistic romance novels by Mary Balogh, Catherine Anderson, Lavyrle Spencer, Pamela Morsi, Judith Ivory and Betty Neels.
9. Jane Austen and the BBC and others for bringing her books to life. Thank God for Sense and Sensibility or I would never have been able to laugh about last year with those moments of recognition and humor.
10. The entire Liaden Universe series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
11. Kick-ass women in Elisabeth Moon's books.
12. My new Frieling French stainless steel plunge pot coffee maker my parent's gave me for christmas. http://www.peets.com/shop/essentials_detail.asp?id=1157&cid=1000079 Along with number 13, morning coffee is pretty damn sublime. So gorgeous, and so well made. There was obviously tons of thought that went into designing this pot, the metal plunger fits perfectly in the pot, the steel is thick and sturdy, kind of like a modern day craftsman item, each part designed perfectly for the job it was meant to do. The sugar spoon is just the right weight, curves elegantly and the notch in the sugar container allows the lid to stay on tight with the spoon left in. I'm perfectly serious. I think I'd better buy another one just to make sure that I have one if something bad happens to it (falls on our tiled kitchen floor and gets a dent or something.)
13. My new Capresso Infinity Conical Burr coffee grinder.
14. Peets http://www.peets.com/ Especially the Pacific coffees: Sumatra, aged Sumatra and Sulawesi Kalosi.
15. My imac G5 - especially the all-in-oneness of it all. How cool is the side loading disk slot?
16. My Mac Powerbook. Design, design, design. The care that goes into apple products - what Disney once had in the quality and consistency of the theme park experience, but no longer. Maybe Jobs will improve that.
17. My ipod, ditto from above apple products.
18. My insanely expensive (but worth it). E4c sound isolating Shure earphones with foam sleeves
19. Sweet peas (the flowers, definitely not the food version of peas - blech.)
20. Writing by Catherine Newman, Waiting for Birdy, and her articles: http://benandbirdy.blogspot.com/ (I'm not usually the jealous type, but I want a husband like she has. Okay, he doesn't have to be a husband, but a guy like that in my life. Though if she didn't write about him, I doubt I'd believe such a man existed on the planet.)
21. More laugh-out-loud writing, this time by Alexa at Flotsam
22. Vitry Tweezers
23. My new canon PowerShot A540. I'm actually taking pictures again. However, I have not sucessfully integrated flikr in my life, so it is not life 2.0-like yet.
24. The Michigan Marching Band - It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine! Dad used to wake us up on Game day in Japan when the Armed Forces Radio Network would broadcast a game, and Blast the band record as loudly as he could to get us all in the mood. The band is probably responsible for more choked up alums on game days than they could imagine....
25. Waterman fountain pens with blue ink.
26. New Yorker cartoons
27. The Daily Show
28. The cats in my life present and past.
29. Birkenstocks
30. FLAX clothing
31. My 500 count cotton sheets made in India - they are like silk.
32. Shakespeare
33. Zingermans www.zingermans.com
34. Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan
35. The coolness of most librarians
36. Huge fluffy cotton towels
37. Dangly earrings
38. Saturday and Sunday mornings, with coffee, a good book and the
day ahead of me.
39. Walking on a beach.
40. Real maple syrup.
41. Breakfast at Jim's when I am in the mood for the pork verde omlette with rice and a walnut waffle with real maple syrup (Con: I have to bring the syrup in myself.)
42. Rapadura sugar
43. Whole wheat scones made by Sconehenge.
44. Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal millstone ground. Soak in milk and water overnight and cooks up in minutes the next morning. serve with a knob of butter, maple syrup, sea salt and more milk. Like pudding. www.bobsredmill.com
45. Giusto's Specialty Foods Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.www.giustos.com
46. Berkeley Bowl.
47. Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter. I always stir in a little molasses, tastes like Jiff but without the trans-fat and its organic!
48. Tapioca
49. Picholine olives
50. Chocolate cherry bread toasted, with butter (Zingerman's Mail order!)
51. Straussberg Organic European style butter
52. Organic milk from Clover Stornetta Farms They have the best advertising, ever. Their milk is yummy and the cows look pretty darn happy, they should, they live in wine-country. Check out the historical billboards
53. Stephen Sondheim
54. Timbuk2 bags http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/retail/catalog.htm
55. Chez Panisse I've only been there once, but it is my kind of place. (Number 55 will be the stand-in for any really good food, served well in a place with a wonderful atmosphere and excellent service.)
56. Midwifery Today http://www.midwiferytoday.com/
57. Fuyu Persimmons
58. Sheep Idiazabal smoked raw milk mitica cheese
59. Caramels made from milk, sugar and salt. No corn syrup, ever.
60. Pilot Hitec 4.0 and 5.0 pens in a rainbow of colors
61. Levenger http://www.levenger.com
62. The smell of Eucalyptus trees
63. Sara McLachlan's "I love you" and "Do What You Have to Do" from her Mirrorball album. My theme songs for last year.
64. My 1998 Camry V6 luxury edition. Best car ever.
65. Salon.com - The daily downloads, Cary Tennis, Ask the Pilot, and the Broadsheet.
66. The San Francisco International Film Festival
67. Indian food in general and the best Indian food blog in existence: Mahanandi:http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/
68. Watching hockey, baseball, or football live, with a team I care about. (infrequent, but I do love the wildness and fast pace of hockey, the slowness and scoring a game for baseball, and paying attention to the march up and down the field in football. However, everything in moderation. I did run the yard marker flags for my brother's football team when we were growing up, so I do know a little about the game....)
69. Calistoga Sparkling Water. (I stopped drinking regular sodas, fruit juices, and other sweet drinks about 7 years ago, and only drink coffees, teas, water and milk these days. I wish I could say that I have lost a lot of weight as a result, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that way. Must be because of my weakness for good butter and good food.)
70. Cherries
71. Emily Dickenson
72. Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women's Health Collective. I think I like the first and second edition best. Raised my consciousness when I was a very young girl.
73. The renovated street cars that run up and down Market Street in San Francisco. In particular, I love the orange ones from Milan. They make me very happy when I see and hear them.
74. The Dave Brubeck Take 5 Album
75. The sound of the Oboe
76. Biographies by Claire Tomalin. Especially the one about Jane Austen, and Samuel Pepys.
77. The diaries of Samuel Pepys - especially this incarnation, what the Web is all about in a nutshell: http://www.pepysdiary.com
78. DailyKos and Talking Points Memo by Joshua Micah Marshall. Both have made me feel less alone during some pretty dark days, and keep me relatively current on politics and current affairs.
79. Jigsaw puzzles (but only if they have really really fun and colorful pictures that can sustain hours of frustrated puzzling.)
80. Standard (shift) cars
81. Painting pottery
82. Pastels & creating art with Pastels. (It has been a while since I've done that, but I loved it. Time to restart!)
83. Writing in the sand on the beach and making life changing decisions (that I sometimes subsequently implement) while walking along the water and listening to the surf. Something about walking on the beach makes me very introspective and deep.
84. Being a Scorpio and all that seems to entail
85. Using tarot cards as a kind of self-learning therapy tool (See number 84, above.)
86. Turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, and our fabulous buttery parsley laden stuffing.
87. plummy, fruity, smooth, red wine
88. "Stolen plum Jam" I made this jam in 2003 using fruit from a rental neighbors backyard that abutted our house. The tree died after it fruited that year and it broke my heart. I don't think I'll taste plum jam that good ever again. Just one of those things.
89. The garden behind the Rock Creek Park Old Stone House in Georgetown, Washington, DC http://www.nps.gov/archive/rocr/olst/history.htm - The English style garden was a slice of heaven on earth and I used to spend lunch breaks there in the summers when I used to work in DC.
90. Breakfast at Cafe Kevah at Napenthe in Big Sur
91. Point Lobos http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/ Absolutely is the most beautiful place on earth.
92. Museums of all kinds, especially the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan in NY, the National Portrait Gallery, and all the Japanese museums I visited when I was a child living in Japan.
93. Advil. Thank God for pain relief. However, the possibility that they will find out about some new nasty side effects tempers the joy.
94. The Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate bridge. Fast track to get through the tolls quickly!
95. PASTE magazine CDs. http://www.pastemagazine.com/
96. Alice in Wonderland, the Oxford annotated edition
97. Knitting with wonderful yarn on my Addi turbo circular needles
98. Candice Olsen & Divine Design http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdivd
99. Dim Sum
100. My friends and family - you know who you are.