CynthiaParkhill

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Team bowling: nearly a superhero

The Lake County Record-Bee Killer Bees
From left to right: Jeremy D. Walsh, Cynthia Parkhill,
Kevin N. Hume, Shawn Garrison and Kelly Thorn

Being on a league bowling team is the next best thing to being a member of the Justice League or some other superhero cadre. You'll just have to take my word for it, because I am so not kidding. I rank league bowling with superherodom.

Awesome dragon-enhanced shoes

Maybe it's because we all dressed up in matching shirts. We were the only team that did and I think it made us stand out: black polos with the Record-Bee's name on the front and the emblem, "Killer Bees," on the back.

I personalized my shirt by adding fringe and strung beads.

Team sports wasn't something I enjoyed until bowling with the "Killer Bees." I was always picked last and missed out on that team camaraderie.

But with bowling, any disparities among level of ability is evened out by our handicaps. We only ever compete against our own best scores.

In that sense, I made an improvement: I entered the league with a 67 average and ended with an average of 70. That may not seem like much but to me, the gain shows definite improvement.

I'd wanted to bowl in a league for months before joining the "Killer Bees." I'm grateful to former publisher Gary Dickson for organizing the team and to my teammates, Shawn Garrison, Kevin N. Hume, Kelly Thorn and Jeremy Walsh, for supportive and positive camaraderie.

Special thanks to my mother for letting me use her left-handed, eight-pound ball.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

'The Speed of Dark' by Elizabeth Moon

The newest edition to my list of recommended books about autism is The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon, available through the Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma County libraries’ catalog.

Moon is the author of several fantasy and science fiction novels. The Speed of Dark is the story of Lou, a man on the autism spectrum who works for a pharmaceutical company. His characteristics of autism enable Lou to identify patterns for his employer.

This book was brought to my attention through a comment by Julie Trebat in response to my list.

Autism book list has new address

For a couple of years I've curated a list of books that I think beneficial to people who are on the autism spectrum. It presently resides at this blog.

Fixed-tag cataloging fun with OCLC

Curated in Storify: To complete an assignment in my library cataloging course, I check fixed-tag values for a book’s cataloging record against the OCLC standard and live-Tweet along the way.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

People really do blame the victim

Comic strip in four panels. In the first panel, a fluttering pigeon with the head of a man says, "I find it difficult to feel sorry for you as so many students like you have never really made an attempt to be part of the student body." Listening to him, a human-looking cat thinks, "Wow ..." In the second panel, the pigeon says, "You simply stand to the side and criticize what you didn't understand and never tried to correct." The cat thinks, "Verbal put-downs ..." In the third panel, the pigeon says, "This article ... will reach a lot of alumni and only make it more difficult for you to return for any of our All-Class Reunions." The cat thinks, "And threats of social exclusion!" In the fourth panel, the pigeon says, "The word will get out ..." The cat thinks, "Where'd he learn to bully so well?"

Original cartoon, generated online using MakeBeliefsComix.com

At the invitation of a friend of mine, Anat, I read a post by guest blogger Angie Tupelo, “Allies and Pseudo Allies,” on “Your Passport to Complaining (is your willingness to do something about it)” by Paxus.