T-Rex to Go: Build Your Own with Chicken Bones

This morning in off-the-beaten-path library finds:

T-Rex to Go: Build Your Own with Chicken Bones by Chris MacGowan

Back flap: "The famous carnivore Tyrannosaurus Rex has fascinated humans for years. Now, with simple explanations, easy-to-follow diagrams, and a few household items, you can turn the remains of your chicken supper into your own miniature--and frightening--model T. rex, complete with teeth! McGowan provides a wealth of information on dinosaur evolution and paleontological procedures, as well as delicious chicken recipes and step-by-step dinosaur-skeleton-building instructions, making this a book the whole family can enjoy."

Makes me think of the Brittany Murphy character in Girl, Interrupted. Could be a kick-ass science project for the right kid, though.

"Once a little boy sent me a charming card..."

"Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it."

--Maurice Sendak


[This quotation has been reblogged all over Tumblr the past two days, but I can't find a documented source for it.]

Three Poems from Heaven

Heaven is poet Mairead Byrne's blog. The Best of (What's Left of) Heaven, Byrne's most recent book, currently tops my wishlist.

Man, do I love these three poems:

---------

WORK

He worked really hard.
He worked really really really really really hard.
He was no good though.
I don't even think he wanted to be good.
He just wanted to work really really really really really hard.

FAMILY STORY

Your father. Your poor father. Your father.

His mother. His poor mother.

His father.

MORE POEMS THAT LOOK LIKE POEMS

This poem is the opposite of Concrete Poetry:

Concrete poems are poems that don't look like poems.

Heck they might only have one word.

My poems look like poems alright.

But there

the resemblance ends.

Andy Smith Illustration

Andy Smith Illustration

"I Love My Boo" on Facebook

GMHC's I Love My Boo campaign features "real young men of color loving each other passionately. Rather than sexualizing gay relationships, this campaign models caring, and highlights the importance of us taking care of each other." Via swirlspice.

Links: Music and Language

Recently bookmarked:

*Dewey Music, an interface for much more easily browsing the Internet Archive's vast free collection of music (if you're a fan of live recordings, here's the mother lode). I could spend hours just looking up all of the genres on the "browse" page

*American English Dialect Recordings--a collection from the Center for Applied Linguistics that features 118 hours of North American accents

*RapGenius, a growing archive of rap songs with allusions and potentially unfamiliar slang explained (and sometimes, less usefully, just commented on)

*"Even Isolated Cultures Understand Emotions Conveyed by Western Music"--a post at Cognitive Daily, and a finding that somehow disappoints me

*"Linguistics Challenge" Puzzles--fun set of linguistics puzzles to work through

*Cover Lay Down, a music (and mp3) blog devoted to "folk covers of familiar songs, [and] reimagined versions of folk songs"

Shana Moulton: Food for Thought

Or rather, herbal tea for thought: Shana Moulton's image essay, "Squiggles, Trees, Ribbons and Spirals: My Collection of Women’s Health, Beauty and Support Group Logos as the Stages of Life in Semi-Particular Order." (small excerpt, left--go see whole)

MN 8675309: Jenny?

Via Mashable, Bump is a start-up that aims to allow people to contact each other via their license plate numbers. It's opt-in: you need to go to Bump's site to "claim" your license plate in order to see any messages you might have been sent (Bump will store messages sent to your plate even if you haven't claimed it; when you claim it, you'll be able to read them)--and it's still in private beta.

Once you've claimed your plate, you can receive messages sent to it via text, email, or voice message. Happy scenario: you're in a theatre and receive a text from a Bump-using Samaritan that you left your lights on, that your car's being towed, that your meter's expired, or that you left your baby in the back seat. Also likely: messages like "Nice merge, asshole," comments about your bumper stickers ("I went to New College, too!" or "Jeebus hates your kind"), and, of course, missed connections. A local car wash owner could "bump" owners of dirty cars with special offers (or an auto body shop --> cars that need work). I'm trying to think of a police/medical emergency use for Bump, but can't.

Mashable: "Eventually Bump will enter AAA’s realm and offer premium services to drivers through a member program. Upgrades will include discount offers, special privileges and roadside assistance. The company is also working with rental car companies, sports leagues and fast-food outlets on marketing initiatives to target special offers to members on the road by tapping into existing video cameras. In this capacity, Bump aims to bring Groupon-like discounts to the real world through license plates, which may be a bit too ambitious for privacy-conscious drivers."

Not at all sure I'd want to use it, but interesting concept.

I'm From Driftwood and It Gets Better

Last week, I came across I'm From Driftwood, a project started by Nathan Manske in (I'm pretty sure) 2009. The site features short videos from GLBTQ people from all over the U.S. (and a few from other countries) talking about their experience, and was conceived as a way to help show GLBTQ teens that they're not alone--that GLBTQ people are everywhere (Manske is from Driftwood, TX, an unincorporated community with a population of less than 1500). It's nicely organized: you can view videos by state or country, click on "transgender" (or "bisexual," "lesbian," and so on) to see videos just from trans folk, etc. Manske raised funds for the project via Kickstarter. I'm From Driftwood's YouTube Channel lists 81 videos so far. Looking through the lists of towns and states, I can imagine how great it would feel to find one's own small town on there as a teen--even at a jaded 36, having been out half my life, I was excited to see that people from my state of origin and my current state have participated.

Today, Mashable reports that queer writer and activist Dan Savage has launched a YouTube Channel called It Gets Better with a similar premise. The channel currently features one video, an introductory post by Dan and his partner Terry.

I hope both get more press.

"We Know Best: Doctors Tussle with Miners"

A strange article at the Sydney Morning Herald by Jonathan Franklin on how psychologists are treating the trapped miners in San Jose. Excerpt:

In an effort to dominate the miners, the team of psychologists led by [lead psychologist] Mr Iturra has instituted a series of prizes and punishments. When the miners behave well, they are given TV and mood music. Other treats--like images of the outside world--are being held in reserve, as either a carrot or a stick should the miners become unduly feisty.

In a show of strength, the miners have at times refused to listen to the psychologists, insisting that they are well. ''When that happens, we have to say, 'OK, you don't want to speak with psychologists? Perfect. That day you get no TV, there is no music--because we administer these things,''' said Dr Diaz. ''And if they want magazines? Well, then they have to speak to us. This is a daily arm wrestle.''

And later on:

''If there is one group that is not exactly disposed to psychologists it is miners,'' said Dr Rodrigo Figueroa, a psychiatrist with Chile's Catholic University who was hired by the Chilean government to monitor the mental health treatment.

What? There's a Gertrude Stein statue in Bryant Park?

The statue has been there since 1992, but I haven't been to NYC since 1990. Wow.

Image by & via New York City Statues, who I hope won't mind my reposting it here, and who note that Stein's was the first public statue of an American woman to be installed in New York City. (Yep. In 1992.)

"Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things"

by Naomi Shihab Nye

She is holding the book close to her body,
carrying it home on the cracked sidewalk,
down the tangled hill.
If a dog runs at her again, she will use the book as a shield.

She looked hard among the long lines
of books to find this one.
When they start talking about money,
when the day contains such long and hot places,
she will go inside.
An orange bed is waiting.
Story without corners.
She will have two families.
They will eat at different hours.

She is carrying a book past the fire station
and the five and dime.

What this town has not given her
the book will provide; a sheep,
a wilderness of new solutions.
The book has already lived through its troubles.
The book has a calm cover, a straight spine.

When the step returns to itself,
as the best place for sitting,
and the old men up and down the street
are latching their clippers,

she will not be alone.
She will have a book to open
and open and open.
Her life starts here.

"Citizen Advocacy 101"

(via this post at Maddow Blog)

I'm trying to reeducate myself when it comes to time. Often, if I see that a video being passed around is over 3 minutes long, I won't watch it. YouTube loads slowly at my house, and it can take 15 minutes to watch 5, so I don't click through. I've been up since 3am, unable to sleep, and finally decided to click through on this one, which I've seen blogged in several places since Tuesday. I'm glad I did.

I'm not sure if the girls are playing up their innocence at the beginning--their seeming cluelessness about everything except their desire to see DADT repealed--or not. A prompt alerted me that "the good part" started around 3:45, but I let the whole thing play, and it gave 3:45 much more power. If I were teaching high school right now, I think I'd show this in class. See below or click to view.



Senator Bennet responds to the girls here.

Bonus insomnia viewing: Jon Stewart Announces "Rally to Restore Sanity" for 10/30

Clients from Hell

Clients from Hell is “a collection of anonymously contributed horror stories from designers.” For example:

“The typography does not please us. Too much 'Tim Burton', not enough pirates.”

“I don’t want any sound on the commercial, the text needs to be smaller, and the logo is up for too long. I want this commercial to be like an Easter egg hunt. I want people to have to look for information and search for the logo.”

Client’s Assistant: “He wants it simple yet dramatic; I’ve attached samples. Please call me if I haven’t been clear.”
[The client attached an image of center-justified Times New Roman text surrounded by a box]

“Please color this page for us so we can see your creativity. This will help us decide whether or not to hire you.” Attached is a child’s coloring page, a picture of a cat playing electric guitar.

“We like this guy a lot. He’s perfect for the brochure. Can you make him African American?”

Instapaper, e-readers, & some articles I've enjoyed recently--

More than books, I've been using my Nook to read longer articles--massive blog posts or long-form journalism that I've saved in my Bloglines account to (supposedly) read some day. Instapaper rocks my world. I've known about it for a long time, but--like the articles--never got around to trying it out. Getting the Nook was a long-overdue push to do so.

If you're not yet familiar with Instapaper, it works like this: you set up a free account at Instapaper, and can either add an Instapaper button to your browser, or manually enter links (while signed into your Instapaper account) to online articles you want to read. The articles stay saved there until you decide to download or print them. You can download them to read on a Kindle, or in ePub format to read on other e-readers (like the Nook); you can print them, or you can read them right there at Instapaper (minus all the distracting ads and clutter that surrounded them at their home on the net). I have a hard time reading long articles online--I'm one of those folks for whom e-ink really is easier on the eyes--and Instapaper in tandem with the Nook means I'm reading longer articles again. It's ridiculously easy to use, and it means I have a steady free stream of fantastic non-book content to read on the Nook.

Some pieces I've recently enjoyed and recommend:

*"The Surprising Satisfactions of a Home Funeral" by Max Alexander (Smithsonian, March 2009)

*"Google's Book Search: a Disaster for Scholars" by Geoffrey Nunberg (Chronicle, August 2009) (a smart and entertaining look at troubled metadata at Google Books)

*"Spar" by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2009) (a deservedly award-winning science fiction short story)

*"Washington, We Have a Problem" by Todd Purdum (Vanity Fair, September 2010) (on a US president's day in the age of 24-hour news, among other impediments. This made me a little more sympathetic to the current administration, and to any future administration--it's astonishing how many barriers there are to getting anything accomplished these days in Washington. We absolutely do have a problem, unless something gives. Highly recommended)

*"Letting Go: What Should Medicine Do When It Can't Save Your Life?" by Atul Gawande (New Yorker, 8/2/10) (Of all of these, this is the one I'd most strongly urge--physically, if I had to--people to read. Important stuff)

In other e-reader news: you can now (haven't tried yet) get Lifehacker and other Gawker blogs in your e-reader via Calibre, and digitizing your own books is becoming popular in Japan, creating demand for more bookscanning-friendly scanners. I'd love to be able to put some of my favorite books that aren't yet (and many never be) available in ebook form on the Nook. If you're interested in more ebook news, TeleRead is an excellent blog for it.

"That thing you're interested in?" "I still like it."

Two panels from another hilarious post by Allie at Hyperbole and a Half, "The Four Levels of Social Entrapment." Her drawing style gives me fits. (I mentioned her "On Being An Adult" here in June):

(click to read the rest of The Four Levels of Social Entrapment)

Fantastic Infographic on Student Loans

Infographic by College Scholarships.org