goblin cartoons

I do not hide the fact that I am a Jane Wiedlin fanboy. She’s cute, she’s funny, she’s geeky, she’s friendly. And when I was younger, so much younger than today, I thought the Go-Go’s were incredibly cool. (Well, I still think that.) She’s been heavily promoting her new comic, Lady Robotika, for months now. (And not quite so heavily promoting it for the past couple of years.) The first issue finally came out last week (co-written by Jane and Bill Morrison, with art by Bill, Tone Rodriguez and Dan Davis), and I bought it mostly to support this awesome lady, but also because it sounded like a pretty cool comic. I’ll admit, though, that I was a little nervous that the comic would turn out to be…well, kind of lame. I mean, I thought Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park would be cool, and boy, was it not!

I’m happy to say I had nothing to worry about. Lady Robotika is many things, but lame isn’t one of them. Is it corny? Yup. Is it goofy? A little bit, yeah. It’s also well-paced, lighthearted fun, with lots of snappy dialogue and amusing pop culture references. As far as science fiction goes, it’s no Blade Runner, but it is kind of The Last Starfighter meets Barbarella, which is very OK with me! I read too many serious comics these days. Having something as cheerfully fun as Lady Robotika helps balance things out.

My only concern now is: how many people out there are fans of SF & superhero comics featuring lighthearted, angst-free adventure stories? I hope there are a good number, because I’d like Lady Robotika to continue with healthy sales. And can we have some more comics that are this much fun? Please?

Last night, Berkie and I were driving to hang out with some friends. I was playing a Robyn Hitchcock CD, and the song “Balloon Man” came on. We stopped at an intersection. Brooke pointed to a compact car on the other side of the intersection. It was designed so that the headlights and grill looked like eyes and a huge smile. Berkie said, “That car has the biggest grin I’ve ever seen!” And then immediately after that, Robyn Hitchcock sang, “…with the biggest grin I’d ever seen.”

Berkie and I looked at each other, wide-eyed. “That was crazy! I’ve never heard this song before in my life!” Berkie said.

“Woah,” I said.

I love synchronicity!

I recently decided to take a hiatus from the Library Society of the World. I’ve got a lot going on in my personal life (that I don’t really feel like talking about here) (but in case anyone’s worried, let me reassure you, it’s good stuff, not bad), plus a lot going on at work, and the LSW was starting to feel like work, not play. So, I decided to step back and take a break.

We’ll see how long that break actually lasts, though, because just after I declared my hiatus, the superhuman Laura Crossett took it upon herself to upgrade the LSW site to WordPress 3.0 and install BuddyPress. The LSW site is now a fully-functioning social site! You can create your own profile, send private messages to other members, create groups, post to the forums–it’s really awfully cool! I sincerely hope people take advantage of the site in the same way they’ve taken advantage of FriendFeed, the original LSW wiki, Twitter and Meebo–to make and build professional and personal connections. And since the new site is a lot more fun, I may come back from my hiatus sooner than I’d originally thought.

“Because women don’t have special powers. Let’s dispense with that theory right now. They don’t have intuition, they don’t have a sixth sense.”
–Jeremy Goodwin (Joshua Malina), Sports Night

I’ve been reading library-centric blogs since 2003 and doing my best to participate in library-related discussions for about as long. I’ve noticed something that’s really starting to stick in my craw.

Librarians love to talk about how special we all are.

This basically comes in two different flavors: librarians are awesome because we have special values, amazing skills and we touch people’s lives in crucial, near-mythic ways; or librarians are pathetic because we as a whole are insecure, passive-aggressive, socially awkward, fashion-challenged and nerdy.

I’m coming to realize I think both of these ideas are complete and total bullshit.

Librarian are not inherently dysfunctional, neurotic or emotionally stunted. I say this with a great amount of affection for the human race, but the fact is a lot of adults are dysfunctional, neurotic and emotionally stunted. It’s not particular to libraries, nor is it more prevalent in libraries. Let’s stop putting ourselves and each other down as a profession, because it’s simply not true.

And while I’m proud to be a librarian and think libraries are very important to human society, librarians themselves are not cleverer, more insightful or special than other working people. Yes, we have certain professional skills that we (hopefully) get better at the more we exercise them. The same is true of doctors, painters, automotive mechanics, farmers and strippers. Let’s take pride in our work, but let’s not put ourselves on a pedestal. Let’s just recognize that we, like other working people in our society, have a job to do.

Librarians are not special snowflakes. We’re not divine and we’re not demonic. We’re just people, for better and for worse. That’s all.

engage the confections!
this day will last
forever
& the heat of my bones
this fever i cannot
shake
is threatening to overtake you all

this day will last forever
until i
devour
the sun
& pull you into a dance
with the moon & me

so…

sweeten the derangements!
open your flesh to me
for i will
drink
your ocean
& burn your ghosts to green

burn
your ghosts
TO GREEN!

Gareth-Michael Skarka tweeted this morning:

Deleting Facebook accounts over privacy concerns is the new slacktivist hotness. If you’re concerned about less-savvy users — TEACH THEM.

And he’s absolutely right.

Colleen Harris blogged last week:

It’s not the nerds, social networking experts, librarians, Alex Scobles or other techgeeks Facebooks awful privacy settings take advantage of, though we’re teh ones bitching to high heaven for or against them.

It’s the casual user. It’s your mother, your Aunt Louise, and your next door neighbor. Perhaps it’s you.

And she’s absolutely right.

As a librarian, part of my job is to teach patrons and staff about new technology. As something of a tech geek, I do this in my off-work time, too. I’m always more than happy to teach friends, family, coworkers and complete strangers about the web and social sites, as well as issues surrounding privacy, copyright and general computer use. Walking away from Facebook isn’t just a personal thing, it’s a teaching moment, an opportunity to educate others on privacy and the social web.

If you’re thinking of deleting your Facebook account, or you’re just generally concerned about privacy on the web, or you simply have knowledge about computers and the internet, you need to share with others. Teach people how to protect themselves and to better use this new technology. It ain’t going away any time soon.

I just deleted my Facebook account. Why?

In part it’s because of my concerns over Facebook’s frequent changing of the goalposts when it comes to privacy. But even more, it’s Facebook’s growth as an all-purpose internet site. To my mind, Facebook is trying to be AOL 2.0–a site that provides you with email, IM, image hosting, blogging, games, etc. I don’t want the internet centralized. I don’t want a one-stop-shop for all things internet. I don’t want One Site to Rule Them All. And I really don’t want the internet simplifed and dumbed down for people. I want people to smart-up for the internet. I want people to learn to use email and instant messaging through the numerous apps and tools available. I want people to learn to use a blogging platform. I want people to learn to use RSS. None of these things are really all that difficult, and outside of Facebook, you can control your privacy a lot more.

If you want to follow my exploits and read my rambling thoughts, read this blog and follow me on Twitter or FriendFeed. If you want to see my photos, check me out on Flickr. If you want to talk to me, email or IM me. But don’t look for me on Facebook, because I won’t be there anymore.

As I said on Twitter, the two bad things about driving 3 hours to Wichita for the KLA annual conference is: 1) it’s a 3-hour drive, and 2) you end up in Wichita. The good things, though, are very good. I got to hang out with some of my library friends, I got to see my pal Bobbi Newman give an excellent presentation on transliteracy, and I got to be part of a panel discussion/presentation on comics and graphic novels with my friend Royce Kitts and Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes, the two guys who do the online comic strip Unshelved.

If you read Unshelved, you’ll have the impression that Gene and Bill are very smart, very funny and very cool. In fact, they’re even smarter and funnier and cooler in person. I liked them immediately. They know more about the history of comics than I do (which, all modesty aside, is saying something), they’re quick and wickedly sarcastic. We all had a lot of fun on the panel. I’m just sorry I couldn’t stick around in Wichita (really) to see Hot Tub Time Machine with them.

The defining moment of the panel (and the conference, really) for me was while Bill was talking about the history of comics, Gene suddenly got a look of inspiration on his face and quickly scribbled something down in his notebook. He then slid the notebook over to me, grinned at me, and pointed to what he wrote: “I don’t believe a word he’s saying.” It was all I could do to not bust out laughing.

“Bow ties are cool.”

I watched the premiere of the latest series of Doctor Who, “The Eleventh Hour,” the other day. As I’ve mentioned before, David Tennant’s Doctor is my favorite, but I wasn’t very happy with how his run ended. Still, Matt Smith had some big shoes to fill as the Doctor. And Karen Gillan had some big companion shoes to fill as Amy Pond, especially after two of my favorite companions, Martha Jones and Donna Noble.

I’m thrilled to say Smith and Gillan did a smashing job. While there were a few shaky bits (to be expected in a series opener, especially one that has to introduce an entirely new cast), the episode was clever, funny, creepy and touching. Smith’s Doctor seems to be a nice mix of Peter Davison‘s reckless enthusiasm and tetchiness with Jon Pertwee‘s brash confidence. Plus, he wears a bow tie! Gillan’s Amy Pond is great, too. She’s tough and snarky, but with some nice warmth showing through.

I’m really excited that Steven Moffat, who has written my favorite episodes of the new Doctor Who, has taken over as producer and chief writer. I expect this entire series to be full of mundane creepiness & terror, as well as action, adventure and comedy. I can’t wait for the rest of this series to unfold.

*Props to my girlfriend, Berkie, who made the “this one goes to eleven” joke about the latest Doctor.

My friend Royce Kitts is the director of the Tonganoxie Public Library in nearby Tonganoxie, KS. The library has redone its website, and it looks fantastic! Check it out!

The site has a definite look to it, but it’s not overdone. It’s comfortable and appealing. It’s easy to find things. I love the picture of the old card catalog at the catalog search box. I absolutely adore the “world’s nicest library” tagline. And the first post at the top of the page? A listing of library rules and guidelines for staff. Sheer brilliance! I think it sets a new standard in transparency.

I’m floored at how simple and wonderful this site it. Well done, Royce!