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June 2012

The stupid hurts

NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal

There is virtually universal agreement among scientists that the sea will probably rise a good meter or more before the end of the century, wreaking havoc in low-lying coastal counties. So the members of the developers’ lobbying group NC-20 say the sea will rise only 8 inches, because … because … well, SHUT UP, that’s because why.

That is, the meter or so of sea level rise predicted for the NC Coastal Resources Commission by a state-appointed board of scientists is extremely inconvenient for counties along the coast. So the NC-20 types have decided that we can escape sea level rise – in North Carolina, anyhow – by making it against the law. Or making MEASURING it against the law, anyhow

Videolog: Le corbeau

Bundock
Le corbeau (1986)

After twenty-five or thirty years, I’m getting really burned out on 1980s pop sung in English but I seem to be developing a really big soft spot for the French stuff.

Trans-Aid and other tales for a Thursday night

I’m sorry, but every time I see one of these vans, I can’t help but think it’s full of people on their way to a giant benefit concert for people with gender identity issues who may also be suffering from famine or the loss of their farms.

More random thoughts for a Thursday “basement night” in Winston-Salem:

  • Some really great news at work and I hate that I really shouldn’t talk about it publicly until next week. I would be quite happy to brag privately to anyone who cares, though.
  • In case you were wondering, Trader Joe’s Punjab Eggplant over rice makes for a surprisingly satisfying dinner. This is part of my new meal strategy, which basically is “cook lots of rice on Sunday night and keep pouring different stuff over it all week.”
  • Have I mentioned yet how much happier I was back when my dad used to hate using the phone as much as I do?
  • I was reminded this morning (fortunately with ten days to prepare) that I have multiple speaking engagements this month. I’m not sure why anyone particularly wants to hear me do it, but I’m sure glad public speaking was never quite as frightening to me as it is to most people.
  • Three new used books from Amazon this week: histories of A&P, Loblaws, and Steinbergs. I sense a theme here. Maybe two.
  • I am really, really impressed by what the ex is doing this week. God knows I couldn’t do it. If you asked nicely, I imagine he would still accept donations. Just sayin’.

Back to Capitale Rock and writing my luncheon speech now.

Order through chaos

It’s hard not to love a bookstore with a “history of technology” section.

More random stuff for a Saturday morning, all of which would probably be more appropriate to some closed-system social networking platform, but fuck that:

  • This might explain so may aspects of my life, from my career choice to why my marriage state-unsanctioned relationship failed.  And why I always crave cookies but often don’t find them satisfying. Or it might not. (Thanks, Dan C.)
  • Much true, this. And it’s somehow related to the fact that I find knowing lots of stupid Excel tricks has helped me more as a librarian than any other tech skills.
  • I don’t shop at Penney’s (I mean “JCP“) as much as I used to, but I could start again, especially if it would piss off these morons.

The good news

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A week or so back I mentioned some good work news. Since the announcement was officially made yesterday, I guess I can brag about it here now so…

I got my grant. The one I was working on back in January and February. You know: the $200K grant with the 106-page application (a real page-turner, it was). As a result, my group will be digitizing many thousands of documents, photos, and other materials related to local history around the turn-of-the-century. We’re the lead institution, collaborating with four other libraries and a museum, which frankly was no small thing to organize.

I’m really excited about it. This is pretty much the specific reason I pursued the career path I did. And…well…it sort of makes me look good career-wise, too. A nice thing to have in the old tenure package, after all.

I may have ice cream to celebrate. Come to think if it, I may have ice cream just for the hell of it…