Can’t.Wait.

I hope this documentary is as good as all the hype. There’s even a facebook group for it.

I feel this is such a prominent topic amongst us librarians, it’s about time someone stopped whinging about it and started filming it:

hollywoodlibrarian.wordpress.com

The trailer shows a number of older (not that there’s anything wrong with that) librarians.  Here’s hoping they included us younger folk too, otherwise it will simply perpetuate precisely what this film is trying to break: librarian stereotypes.

Not a Librarian Pick Up Line

Scene:

3 girls chatting, taking photos of each other, having fun.

Enter stage right: Creepy Lurking Male with beer in hand. Nevermind the fact he’s bald, nevermind the fact he’s short, nevermind the fact he’s old. The lurking and hovering cover the creep factor.

3 girls visibly stiffen when Creeping, Lurking Male inches forward into circle of femaledom.
3 girls continue to blatantly ignore Creepy, Lurking Male.

“Cheers” says Creepy Lurky Male.
3 girls stop and stare at one another, each determining which of us was gonna be the sucker stuck with him.
Exit stage left: one quick footed female.
and then there were 2…

Female: “So…what do you do?” feigning interest.
CLM: “I’m a land surveyor.”
Female: slightly puzzled, she asks for clarification, “You mean for tax purposes? Assessing properties?”
CLM: *laughs creepy laugh* “Actually, no, i’m the guy who takes pictures of roads and puts markings on the road for reconstruction, etc. blah blah blah boring boring boring….So, what do you do?”
Female: “I’m a librarian!” *note the enthusiasm*
CLM: turns to other female and strikes up conversation with her.

SWEET – if only i’d known it would have rid me of him earlier, i woulda screamed it at him.

Lesson Learned: obviously not the best pick up line, in fact, clearly the opposite. Duly noted.

Not Just A Book List

Yann Martel (author of Life of Pie (2001), Self (1996)) has recently started a project called:

“What is Stephen Harper Reading“

In one word: awesome.

Someone should be recommending books to our Prime Minister, if nothing else, that means maybe he can discuss something intellectual (insert gawf) about the Arts with some of his cronies, despite the fact he doesn’t fund them.

Fashion falls under the Arts too, right? That should also be considered:

Hope & Beyond

I listened to a CBC Radio 1 program called Ideas and their topic tonight was on the recently (as in, the last 30-40 years) coined phrase “Social Entrepreneurship“.

Briefly the show is described by CBC as:

THE KINGS OF PHILANTHROPY
Some have called it the natural fall-out of a hyper-capitalist society — billionaires who’ve made more money from media and technology enterprises than anyone in human history. There’s Bill Gates, the creator of Microsoft; Jeff Skoll, the founder of e-Bay; Larry Page, a partner in Google; and then, of course, Warren Buffet, who has been dubbed the “Oracle of Omaha.” Now, they’ve reinvented themselves as philanthropists, giving away billions to help the poor. Freelance broadcaster Richard Phinney asks: can they re-make the world?

This is something i really hope when my colleagues and myself make our millions* that we will actively pursue.

Though some argue it is contentious (tax breaks, who ‘really’ benefits, i will only support my “crusade” b/c it’s my money etc.) the ultimate goal is helping others far less fortunate than those of us in the Western world.

As cliche as this sounds, I have felt a huge desire to volunteer and contribute more to this meagre world since watching “Blood Diamond“.

Student debt, jump starting a career, learning more about others, and life in general (obviously none of which are excuses) have basically prevented me from beginning any sort of serious pursuit of helping the numerous organizations out there.

But with the rise of the P3 (Public Private Partnership), i wonder if this will extend much further into spreading the wealth and helping those less fortunate.

Perhaps too this means information professionals will be needed now more than ever to help facilitate this relationship and ensure success.

Here’s hoping we can help any way we can.

—
*millions: relatively speaking

Truly Amongst Peers

Only at an SLA* event can i say:

“I’m going to Slovenija for a two week course on libraries.”

and receive nods of approval and eyes of envy rather than the regular “are you kidding me-why would anybody do that-i think you’re crazy” shock ‘n surprise.

Happy International Special Libraries Day Everyone!

~Have you hugged a librarian today?~

*FIS friends count too, obviously… no question

 

Coolest Nerd, The making of

Saturday night.

The library closes at 5pm.

Who asks for special permission to stay later? Right here.

We were permitted only under the specific and strictest of terms: we must not take any of the short term books home with us; we must not tell anyone we were allowed here; and we must not, under any circumstances, eat in the library.

Sir yes sir.

==
It’s 6pm.
crinkle crinkle. munch munch. giggle giggle.

Dude, we are total rebels.

==

And just to confirm, just in case there was any doubt, i took The test from OKCupid:

Pure Nerd 73 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 13% Dork

For The Record:A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendencies associated with the “dork.” No-longer. Being smart isn’t as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

	You scored higher than 77% on nerdiness
	You scored higher than 25% on geekosity
	You scored higher than 8% on dork points