Thursday, February 28, 2008

Back with some mild ranting

I'm still wondering about the whole "Y is the new X" thing. Who thinks up stupid things like that? Very non-creative people I suppose.

Today I ran across our copy of New York Magazine, the one with Lindsay Lohan recreating the Last Sitting. Naturally, one of our patrons felt the need to cut the pictures out with scissors, thus defacing the magazine. Granted I am assuming it was a patron and not someone who works here because after all aren't librarians supposed to believe in freedom of expression? Now back to the rant...

I'm not so certain I care that the pictures were cut out. Go to New York Magazines online site and you can see them, plus a couple that did not get put in the magazine. Big deal. I don't like the vandalism, but I think it proves something I believe. IF you want to prevent crimes like theft, vandalism, etc. you have to establish a visible presence at your work area. This means that librarians have to (ohmigawd don't say it) WALK AROUND! Get off your lazy butt and take a walk around your reference area when you're on the desk. It's just like any other business, if people see you, you make eye contact, maybe talk to them a little, offer to help, they are much less likely to damage/destroy/steal material. Why? Because as you walk around and do those little things they get UNCOMFORTABLE. Duh!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Trendwatching for 2008

Recently received a link to a list of things (http://influxinsights.com/blog/article/1724/jwt-has-80-things-for-us-to-watch-in-08.html) to watch for in 2008. Obviously I'm a little behind since it's late February and the list was created in December, but I feel the need to make comments on a few of these issues.

2. Antibiotic Backlash - this has been in the news before mainly due to antibiotic resistant strains of diseases cropping up. Is this a new issue? I think not.

4. Beijing 2008 - They're holding the Olympics in China so we'll go through the inevitable fads of so-called "culture" that usually have nothing to do with the country in question - Crocodile Dundee anyone?

7. British actress Kira Knightley - already overexposed in the entertainment world.

49. Nollywood - can we come up with something better than another Hollywood knockoff - Metro Goldwyn Nigeria, Nigerian Artists, SOMETHING????

69. Tequila as the new wine - tequila connoisseurs will have a field day with this. Simple facts about distillation - any liquor can be distilled/aged into a fine sipping beverage suited for cocktail hours, dinner, or after dinner drinks. This has already happened with scotch (single malt), rum and whiskey (single barrel or single batch or small batch). Does this mean next year watch out for Gin or Vodka as the new tequila?

Further rant on #69 - what is it with calling everything the new X (the new black, the new wine, etc.) It's an absurd premise and a lousy comparison device. Simply put, call the item the new trend in it's field - Tequila will be the big news in alcoholic beverages rivalling wine for it's versatility and be done with "the new" fad.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Funny stuff

So it must be the full moon, early spring and something else I can't quite put my finger on because I am getting the weirdest issues at work this week. First was the regular patron who came in and sat down at a table already occupied by a studying student. The student came to me and asked if I would have the other patron move as the student was doing school work and was being disrupted by the regular patrons loud phone conversation. Upon asking VERY POLITELY if the intruding patron would move, I was called racist and told that the FBI would be checking up on me.
Second fun incident: I woke a sleeping patron to give her a copy of the library rules and explain that she could not sleep in the library. Patron's response "What kind of library is this?" before storming off...
I can't help but laugh at both incidents because they are so typical of our patron base. Working downtown in a large public library has it's moments of genuine weirdness and this is shaping up to be the week for them.
I also ran across a couple of neat library memes that I will probably be participating in soon. I have some great ideas for both of them.