CSU tuition-gouging is unconscionable

The column by managing editor Mandy Feder in today’s Record-Bee illustrates precisely why I “hack” library school in the California Community College system.

Vladimir’s Mustache by Stephan Eirik Clark

Vladimir’s Mustache is published
by Russian Life Books

Vladimir’s Mustache by Stephan Eirik Clark (Russian Life Books, 2012) has accompanied me on my daily Lake Transit commute this week.

Lake County readers may remember the author, who reported under the byline Stephan Clark for the Lake County Record-Bee.

Vladimir’s Mustache is a collection of short stories set against various eras of Russian History. Jacket copy sets the timeline “from the time of Peter the Great to the years of the post-soviet collapse.”

I am not familar with Russian history, but I don’t think a reader has to be, to find these stories accessible. First and foremost, Clark’s stories are about people who live and strive against the larger backdrop of history.

One story that particularly resonated with me for the familiar society it depicts, was “The Secret Meeting of the Secret Police.” The characters discuss a coming innovation called “the Internet” that will put surrveilance workers out of a job:

“And people will use it?” the narrator asks President Gorbachev.

The president answers, “People will use it, and they will even pay as much as fifteen-hundred rubles per month for the privilege. ... The state will be able to police its citizens for kopeks on the ruble what it costs today.”

I thought the description of our web-accelerated society to be very apt, phrased in a way that people do not often think about. The situation was plausible and I thought about Twitter updates in which the user proclaimed he had ousted someone else as “mayor” of a physical location.

Each check-in or geolocated post is a form of opt-in surveillance.

Other stories in the collection introduce the reader to men and women in diverse places in life. In each story, Clark offers an intimate glimpse at the lives and feelings of his characters.

Clark’s collection was an enjoyable read that I would recommend. I will offer my copy as an addition to the stacks of our Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma County libraries.

Disclosure of material connection: I received a review copy of this book.

‘Hattitude’: Brown tea-time hat

The best hats are the ones that I make myself. Here is a new hat, repurposed from a shirt. Brown tea-table pattern, lined with black.

Reppler enhances brand consistency

Screen capture: Reppler network analytics

A lead from Joshua Waldman, social media strategist and author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies, introduced me to Reppler, a social media scanning tool that “monitors pictures and wall posts for tone, appropriateness and any telltale signs of someone hacking your account.”

Blame stupidity for Twitter users’ stupid posts

During #DFMChat, the weekly best-practices dialogue on Twitter among Digital First Media journalists, I went to retrieve a link to Steve Buttry’s latest entry in his #twutorial series for effective Twitter use.

Adult volunteers needed for Challenge Day at Clear Lake High School

‘Got your back.’ Challenge Day’s Notice Choose Act Network 

Exciting news for this adult survivor of childhood peer abuse: Clear Lake High School (CLHS) is preparing for its third annual Challenge Day, taking place Sept. 12 and 13.

‘Cat ears hat’ for Friday cat blogging with Starfire

A ‘cat ears hat,’ just in time for Friday cat blogging

 It was the best crowdsource ever! I finished a crocheted “cat ears hat” on Aug. 23, just in time for Friday cat blogging with another picture of my beautiful cat Starfire.

I obtained the pattern through an inquiry on Twitter during #crochetchat. Find a link to the pattern, a simple cat ear hat by Kelley Freeman, at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-cat-ear-hat.

Yarn Bombing @ Your Library: ‘388.4’

With grit from the Wye Fire in the air, here I am installing "388.4"
at Lake Transit's "Library Stop" near Lake County Library in Lakeport.

‘Libraries and public service’

Hack Library School contributor Paul Lai discusses libraries and public service in an Aug. 8 post. He states, the idea of librarianship’s overlap with social work surfaced briefly during his studies.

What broadband access can do for a community

Economist.com posted an interesting article about what broadband access can do for a community. The author stated that Google chose Kansas City, Mo. as the recipient of a fiber-optic broadband network.

Black Cat Appreciation Day homage to my beautiful black cat Starfire

Our beautiful black cat Starfire

I was already inclined to join the “Friday Cat-Blogging” trend, after the latest episode in which Starfire demonstrated her incredible intelligence -- but a post on Twitter from The Third Glance revealed to me that today is Black Cat Appreciation Day.

Signs missing from student exhibit at EcoArts sculpture walk

Unbelievable! Robin Shrive reports Stolen art from the EcoArts: Lake County Sculpture Walk at Middletown County Trailside Park.

In a letter published Aug. 15 on the Lake County Record-Bee website, Shrive explains that her AP English class students “spent countless hours of their own time creating an exhibit celebrating reading.” Unfortunately, the recreations of two street signs, Lake Avenue and Read Street, are gone.

Shrive asks that people who see the signs or are in possession of them to return them to Exhibit 2 or contact EcoArts of Lake County at 928-0323.

Interesting post about girls with ASD

Kate Reynolds writes an interesting post about girls and women on the autism spectrum at Special Education & IEP Advisor. In it, she discusses reasons why women and girls are under-diagnosed: for instance, special interests that are perceived as “girlie” and an ability to better mask their lack of social skills. I think this essay is worthwhile reading for its emphasis upon a need for more education on what to look for in girls.

Perhaps libraries need ‘customer champions’

On the “Social Media for Libraries, Library Friends, and Library Foundations” LinkedIn discussion group, Michael Henry Starks shared a link to Marketing Is Dead by Bill Lee in Harvard Business Review.

YA book blog: Keys to the Kingdom

I’ve checked out the first three books in Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom from the Middletown library: Mister Monday (Scholastic, 2003), Grim Tuesday (2004) and Drowned Wednesday (2005).

Time to stop trying to save libraries?

The Aug. 8 American Libraries Direct prints the opening excerpts/summary of a blog by R. David Lankes with the provocative title, “It’s time to stop trying to save libraries.”

Heron’s Path is compelling young adult fantasy

Heron’s Path by Alethea Eason (Spectacle Publishing Media Group, 2012) has accompanied me during my bus commute this week.

Five ‘Cs’ of librarianship

There are five areas, the “five Cs” in which librarians can empower learners with valuable 21st-century skills, according to teacher-librarian Joyce Valenza and technology integration specialist and librarian Shannon McClintock Miller.

Batgirl was a librarian

Yvonne Craig is Batgirl, the superhero librarian

The current Batman film franchise is too dark and violent for my liking. But I have fond memories of the campy television show with Adam West and Burt Ward.

From Random House: Libs on Film, came this timely reminder that Batgirl was a superhero librarian! What better role model for this would-be librarian to aspire to?

More of us are ‘Married without children’

I am part of a growing percentage of women in the United States who have never had children. Another of those women, Deborah Petersen, shares her experience of being “Married without children” at MercuryNews.com.

Book advocates greater investment in public transit

For the past three weeks, my daily commute on Lake Transit has offered me an occasion to read Straphanger by Taras Grescoe (Times Books, 2012).

Computers track bullying with social media

Researchers are using social media to look for clues to bullying incidents, according to an article posted Thursday by United Press International.