So in my return to the blogosphere (after a month long absence) I would like to acknowledge the eight years I have known my wife. What an eight years it has been.
If you had told me all those years ago that this would be my life, I would have told you to invest your money in a better psychic. I am in charge of a library, I am married, and I have a child, what humbling turn of events.
As you may know Massachusetts will continue to pay income tax, therefore the various agencies that are funded from the budget will to live to fight another day. I am profoundly grateful for this, as are all the library staff.
To leave you with something to ponder, two major authors were lost to us in the last 30 days: Studs Terkel and Michael Crichton. Studs Sterkel passed on October 31 and Michael Crichton on November 4, 2008. Both authors have made profound impacts and this librarian will greatly miss both.
With heartiest wishes for a happy and healthy autumn to you all.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
We need you to understand so you can act
I do not as a rule talk about politics, I think your right to vote is a sacred trust and therefore not something that can be adequately explored over a cup of coffee or even dinner. Now however I must ask you to listen to me. If you live in Massachusetts you will be asked to vote on 3 questions on the ballot this year, if you are registered to vote a voter info workbook was mailed to you at the address the voting co mission has on file. If you did not get your packet, call 1-800-462-VOTE (web site is: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/)and ask to have one sent to you (they have them in large print and Spanish, we have them in braille and on cassette here at the BTBL).
YOU MUST VOTE NO on question 1.
A yes vote will cut cause over $12 BILLION to vanish from the coffers, that revenue can not just be replaced overnight. If you believe in small government, this is not the way to get it. Vote for term limits, a part time legislature, but this is not the way.
Here is what the Mass Board of Library Commissioners has posted:
"Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners:
MBLC Takes a Stand on Question 1
An initiative to repeal the state income tax has qualified for the November 2008 ballot, as Question 1. A previous income tax repeal initiative appeared on the 2002 ballot, and received 45% of the vote (885,000 votes).
At its September 4, 2008 monthly Board meeting, The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) voted to oppose Question on the basis on that its enactment would essentially eliminate library services, programs, networks and entire systems that have made Massachusetts libraries among the strongest in the nation.
The Board unanimously approved the following motion:
Be it resolved that as the primary stewards of library service for all residents of the Commonwealth, the Board of Library Commissioners opposes Question on the basis that its enactment would have a severe impact on all types of libraries in Massachusetts and would result especially in an overwhelming and wholly destructive loss of public library services that are fundamental to the educational, social and economic well-being of all residents of the Commonwealth.
Income tax revenue generates about $11 billion of the state’s $28 billion annual operating budget. The Secretary of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance stated that the loss of the income tax would result in a 60% across the board cut in state budgets. Rather than a single across the board budget reduction, the Board believes that it is much more likely that all state funding for library programs would be eliminated.
"Everything that the MBLC and the libraries worked so hard to create since the Board’s inception in 1890 would be destroyed," stated MBLC Chairman, George T. Comeau. "...
The public library system of 1889 which is no system at all, but rather a stand-alone library in some towns and no library at all in others. No assurance of free access to other public libraries either "
I can only leave you with these words, you will be effectively put an end to the public library system, services for the disabled as they have been known for almost 100 years, and, yes, you will be putting me out of a job.
There are many examples of statements like what you see above, ask me and I will send you a copy of no less than six statements from agencies that stand to not even exist if this vote passes.
YOU MUST VOTE NO on question 1.
A yes vote will cut cause over $12 BILLION to vanish from the coffers, that revenue can not just be replaced overnight. If you believe in small government, this is not the way to get it. Vote for term limits, a part time legislature, but this is not the way.
Here is what the Mass Board of Library Commissioners has posted:
"Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners:
MBLC Takes a Stand on Question 1
An initiative to repeal the state income tax has qualified for the November 2008 ballot, as Question 1. A previous income tax repeal initiative appeared on the 2002 ballot, and received 45% of the vote (885,000 votes).
At its September 4, 2008 monthly Board meeting, The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) voted to oppose Question on the basis on that its enactment would essentially eliminate library services, programs, networks and entire systems that have made Massachusetts libraries among the strongest in the nation.
The Board unanimously approved the following motion:
Be it resolved that as the primary stewards of library service for all residents of the Commonwealth, the Board of Library Commissioners opposes Question on the basis that its enactment would have a severe impact on all types of libraries in Massachusetts and would result especially in an overwhelming and wholly destructive loss of public library services that are fundamental to the educational, social and economic well-being of all residents of the Commonwealth.
Income tax revenue generates about $11 billion of the state’s $28 billion annual operating budget. The Secretary of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance stated that the loss of the income tax would result in a 60% across the board cut in state budgets. Rather than a single across the board budget reduction, the Board believes that it is much more likely that all state funding for library programs would be eliminated.
"Everything that the MBLC and the libraries worked so hard to create since the Board’s inception in 1890 would be destroyed," stated MBLC Chairman, George T. Comeau. "...
Impact on programs of the Board of Library Commissioners:
- The Board of Library Commissioners itself would continue to exist, but it would have no budget and no staff
- Elimination of State Aid to Public Libraries in place since 1890
- Elimination of regional library systems and library of last recourse
- Elimination of talking book libraries for the blind and disabled (this is no joke, the current budget cuts (as of 10/16) have already taken $86, 816 from our budget.)
- Elimination of funding for automated networks and licensed electronic content
- Elimination of matching funds for private fund raising
- Elimination of the public library construction program
- Elimination of Federal Library Services and Technology Act grants and statewide services
The public library system of 1889 which is no system at all, but rather a stand-alone library in some towns and no library at all in others. No assurance of free access to other public libraries either "
I can only leave you with these words, you will be effectively put an end to the public library system, services for the disabled as they have been known for almost 100 years, and, yes, you will be putting me out of a job.
There are many examples of statements like what you see above, ask me and I will send you a copy of no less than six statements from agencies that stand to not even exist if this vote passes.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
1001 Things
So there is this blog going up that lists 1001 rules for your unboorn son. The things being posted on it are mostly just good ideas and bits of wit. One that I especially agree with is to "own a tuxedo." I have to admit I did start to think what is the most important thing I want to tell my child when we found out he was coming.
Check out the site, see what you think:
http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com/
Check out the site, see what you think:
http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com/
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A Book Worth Reading
Many years ago a friend of the family gave me a book. This was a book she had read and didn't really care for but thought I might enjoy it. This title is Talks with Great Composers: Candid Conversations with Brahms, Puccini, Strauss, and Others by Arthur Abell.
Abell set out to put together a book that would explain the creative force behind music composition. Abell was a journalist who happened to know the violinist Joseph Joachim and Joachim (at that point) was a an intimate friend of Johannes Brahms. Through Joachim Abell was allowed to interview Brahms about the creative process.
The first third of the book is devoted to the interview. Brahms openly and candidly speaks about what he believes are the requirements of being a good composer and what he thinks of composers of the past and present. The rest of the book relates interviews with other "minor" composers such as Humperdink (Hansel and Gretel) and Grieg among others.
One wonderful thing about the work is that Abell interviewed Brahms first and when he told the other composers that he had spoken to Brahms they were very excited and wanted to know what he had said; there was one problem however. Brahms told Abell he could publish the interview on one condition; that it not be published until 50 years after Brahms' death. (note: I would lose my mind). Brahms was very much aware that few composers are appreciated in their own lifetime (he had a great deal to say about those who are). Brahms felt the world would not truly appreciate what he had to say in his own time and that his words must wait.
Fate stepped in again because 50 years later it was 1947 and the world (according to Abell, but you can see his point) was not ready for a work such as this. The Nuremberg trials were still going on, Europe was still in ruins, and it seemed, if nothing else, to be in poor taste to publish such a work. Abell knew it would be a select audience that would read the book and did not delude himself that this work would affect much change. The work was finally published in 1955.
This book opened my mind. It is a testament of belief in God and in the abilities of the people on earth. Few works like this exist, none with this much comparison of viewpoint and in such an authoritative translation. If you get the chance to read it, let me know what you think.
Abell set out to put together a book that would explain the creative force behind music composition. Abell was a journalist who happened to know the violinist Joseph Joachim and Joachim (at that point) was a an intimate friend of Johannes Brahms. Through Joachim Abell was allowed to interview Brahms about the creative process.
The first third of the book is devoted to the interview. Brahms openly and candidly speaks about what he believes are the requirements of being a good composer and what he thinks of composers of the past and present. The rest of the book relates interviews with other "minor" composers such as Humperdink (Hansel and Gretel) and Grieg among others.
One wonderful thing about the work is that Abell interviewed Brahms first and when he told the other composers that he had spoken to Brahms they were very excited and wanted to know what he had said; there was one problem however. Brahms told Abell he could publish the interview on one condition; that it not be published until 50 years after Brahms' death. (note: I would lose my mind). Brahms was very much aware that few composers are appreciated in their own lifetime (he had a great deal to say about those who are). Brahms felt the world would not truly appreciate what he had to say in his own time and that his words must wait.
Fate stepped in again because 50 years later it was 1947 and the world (according to Abell, but you can see his point) was not ready for a work such as this. The Nuremberg trials were still going on, Europe was still in ruins, and it seemed, if nothing else, to be in poor taste to publish such a work. Abell knew it would be a select audience that would read the book and did not delude himself that this work would affect much change. The work was finally published in 1955.
This book opened my mind. It is a testament of belief in God and in the abilities of the people on earth. Few works like this exist, none with this much comparison of viewpoint and in such an authoritative translation. If you get the chance to read it, let me know what you think.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Making Ends Meet
Library budgets across the country are being cut back and so administrators are having to find creative solutions to provide access. The solutions generaly come in the form of whatever is free of charge. Google has maed it possible for institutions (like Univ of Mich) to digitize collections that can then be more easily integrated into the library's database since the metadata is already marked up, in some cases down to letter by letter.
This could mean a great deal to braille and talking book libraries since it could mean access to the materials from public and special library collections without having to record a narration of the work or transcribe the work into braille. Instead the digitized version is converted directly to braille code or run through a speech generator (if you don't like speech generators, shut the hell up, Patrick Stewart isn't waiting around to narrate your book).
This collaboration would be made possible by Title 17 of the U.S. code that means that copyrighted material may be reproduced in an accessible format provided that format is not easily duplicatable. UM has limited the availability of their digitized collection to UM students only, thus no BTBL has access to this collection. This is resonable since the students and the taxpayers are footing the bill in that case and little ol' me here in Mass. has no business asking to borrow something unique to that collection.
It will be interesting to see how this will all pan out; how many jobs might be lost, what about "library as place?"
This could mean a great deal to braille and talking book libraries since it could mean access to the materials from public and special library collections without having to record a narration of the work or transcribe the work into braille. Instead the digitized version is converted directly to braille code or run through a speech generator (if you don't like speech generators, shut the hell up, Patrick Stewart isn't waiting around to narrate your book).
This collaboration would be made possible by Title 17 of the U.S. code that means that copyrighted material may be reproduced in an accessible format provided that format is not easily duplicatable. UM has limited the availability of their digitized collection to UM students only, thus no BTBL has access to this collection. This is resonable since the students and the taxpayers are footing the bill in that case and little ol' me here in Mass. has no business asking to borrow something unique to that collection.
It will be interesting to see how this will all pan out; how many jobs might be lost, what about "library as place?"
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Bad blogger, BAD!
I'm sorry everyone, like many who blog out there I had the best of intentions when I set out. Conor is growing so very fast, my wife and I are already starting to realize how right all those parents were who said time will go by so quickly. I have already completed my first TFC residency for the summer. The rain kept a lot of people away this time and I hope the second (and final residency of the summer) wil fair better.
Blogging is something that librarians count on. Why you ask? Blogging is the way we keep abreast of the most current data as well as trends. It is wonderful to be able to click on the feeds from blogs and read about what Sun Systems is doing or what was presented at a national conference. Bottom line librarianship is trying to keep ahead, never mind keep up with, the point and click world of today.
I follow several blogs about assistive technology and librarianship, some blogs are always current, some are not. This is also a way of networking and finding other sources of information. In this way I help keep up with the world outside of the BTBL (and my own) and also I run the chance of being able to help someone who might not connect with me.
Librarians are famous for our lists of lists. Bibliographies, directories, concordances, you name it; we want it somewhere on the shelf. Blogs are lists of lists; link lists. Blogging has been something that library schools (if they were smart) started telling students about a long time ago. While we think of them as something akin to the vanity press (some are just that) it is really another way to get people in touch with information.
Blogging is something that librarians count on. Why you ask? Blogging is the way we keep abreast of the most current data as well as trends. It is wonderful to be able to click on the feeds from blogs and read about what Sun Systems is doing or what was presented at a national conference. Bottom line librarianship is trying to keep ahead, never mind keep up with, the point and click world of today.
I follow several blogs about assistive technology and librarianship, some blogs are always current, some are not. This is also a way of networking and finding other sources of information. In this way I help keep up with the world outside of the BTBL (and my own) and also I run the chance of being able to help someone who might not connect with me.
Librarians are famous for our lists of lists. Bibliographies, directories, concordances, you name it; we want it somewhere on the shelf. Blogs are lists of lists; link lists. Blogging has been something that library schools (if they were smart) started telling students about a long time ago. While we think of them as something akin to the vanity press (some are just that) it is really another way to get people in touch with information.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Newsletters
So the library where I work publishes 3 newsletters. In no particular order they are called Dots & Decibels, El Narrador, and PerKids. The NLS mandates that its network libraries publish a quarterly newsletter each year that will be sent out to library patrons as well as interested parties of the library. For years Dots & Decibels was the library's newsletter (weather they went out quarterly is another story). "Dots" refers to braille and "Decibels" to the talking books. I'm a fan of creative titles and so I approve. This newsletter still shares information about the library as well as areas of interest to our patrons (like the digital televison conversion or making U.S. currency accessible).
El Narrador is the newsletter for our Spanish speaking patrons. The name translates to The Narrator and I came up with it in response to the need to have the title of the newsletter be something that would relate to what we do here at the library. EN is published twice a year, trust me, this Spanish speaking Irish boy needs that much time.
The third is PerKids. This is the newsletter that is geared toward children and young adults. This newsletter contains lots of information about technology, books, games, library and community events, and updates about library services. PerKids is also published twice a year but every month an electronic version is sent out to patrons who have e-mail.
This is the way the library keeps our patrons up to date, I hope they enjoy them.
El Narrador is the newsletter for our Spanish speaking patrons. The name translates to The Narrator and I came up with it in response to the need to have the title of the newsletter be something that would relate to what we do here at the library. EN is published twice a year, trust me, this Spanish speaking Irish boy needs that much time.
The third is PerKids. This is the newsletter that is geared toward children and young adults. This newsletter contains lots of information about technology, books, games, library and community events, and updates about library services. PerKids is also published twice a year but every month an electronic version is sent out to patrons who have e-mail.
This is the way the library keeps our patrons up to date, I hope they enjoy them.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sigh
June is almost through, I have always been a bad journal keeper. It is one of my failings as a person that I lack follow through. I want a task to be over and done, no dragging it out, the process is not what I am after, I really do like instant gratification.
On to business.
The National Library Service is a branch of the Library of Congress and is responsible for the creation of books in alternate formats that are provided, free of charge, to people who have trouble reading books that are in stanard print. This dose not just mean blind people but those too with low vision, dyslexia, arthritus, those without the use of their hands.
About 10 years ago the NLS started planning what it was going to use for a new format instead of cassette tapes. We were not bowing to pressure to stop using cassette tapes because it was an older technology but with the advent of digital reproduction techniques it was evient that we could store the same amount of audio books in a much smaller space and produce recordings much more quickly.
A commitee was formed and within a few years decided on a new medium (flash memory) and then a new machine for playback. As with any federal agency, things moved slowly due to funding and having to get the nod from the various people that need to be consulted on such matters, but we got started.
Last year the legislature under funded the launch of the first phase of the project by 7 million dollars. This meant that we were adding at least 4 years to the roll out. This year we stand very much on the edge of something wonderful. The House Committee on Aproapriations has voted that the programs funding be raised to $34.5 million. Like any upgrade this will kind of infusion would not need to happen every year, just so this program can get off the ground.
For crying out loud people, we've used cassette tapes for over 30 years, I think we can be counted on not to give up on this new format over night. We will use the new Talking Book format for years to come, making the investment well worth it.
www.loc.gov/nls
On to business.
The National Library Service is a branch of the Library of Congress and is responsible for the creation of books in alternate formats that are provided, free of charge, to people who have trouble reading books that are in stanard print. This dose not just mean blind people but those too with low vision, dyslexia, arthritus, those without the use of their hands.
About 10 years ago the NLS started planning what it was going to use for a new format instead of cassette tapes. We were not bowing to pressure to stop using cassette tapes because it was an older technology but with the advent of digital reproduction techniques it was evient that we could store the same amount of audio books in a much smaller space and produce recordings much more quickly.
A commitee was formed and within a few years decided on a new medium (flash memory) and then a new machine for playback. As with any federal agency, things moved slowly due to funding and having to get the nod from the various people that need to be consulted on such matters, but we got started.
Last year the legislature under funded the launch of the first phase of the project by 7 million dollars. This meant that we were adding at least 4 years to the roll out. This year we stand very much on the edge of something wonderful. The House Committee on Aproapriations has voted that the programs funding be raised to $34.5 million. Like any upgrade this will kind of infusion would not need to happen every year, just so this program can get off the ground.
For crying out loud people, we've used cassette tapes for over 30 years, I think we can be counted on not to give up on this new format over night. We will use the new Talking Book format for years to come, making the investment well worth it.
www.loc.gov/nls
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Fili mi
What on earth brought this baby to us, now, at this point in time? I really wish this was my second or third child, he deserves so much better than the stressed out wack job that I am presenting him with for a father.
As I head back to work from paternity leave I find that I wish I am just getting started in understanding how to care for this baby. There is no parenting yet, just care giving. I'm glad, I'm still not ready to be a parent yet.
Ready or not, here it comes.
As I head back to work from paternity leave I find that I wish I am just getting started in understanding how to care for this baby. There is no parenting yet, just care giving. I'm glad, I'm still not ready to be a parent yet.
Ready or not, here it comes.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Vision 5k Run
Every year the a 5k race is held to benefit blindness research and blindness agencies in Massachusetts. The Vision 5k Run is different in that it challenges sighted runners (or walkers...I don't think wheel chair folks so much) to participate blind folded. You run or work tethered to a guide. For the record I am not running in this event but Perkins is a sponsor and is sending several teams.
There is a young lady who is running blindfolded (click the link above) in honor of her cousin (who is still living) who is blind. Stories like this girl's are not unique to an event like the Vision 5k Run, this race demonstrates the determination of not just the blind and low vision participants but the love and determination of family and friends.
There is a young lady who is running blindfolded (click the link above) in honor of her cousin (who is still living) who is blind. Stories like this girl's are not unique to an event like the Vision 5k Run, this race demonstrates the determination of not just the blind and low vision participants but the love and determination of family and friends.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
When I'm 64...
A recent article in the Globe (click on the title of this post to see the article)got me to thinking about what me and the Mrs. will do in order to keep up our chops as we get up there in years. The text of the article is below:
In some ways it's a typical golden-years scene: two dozen senior
citizens gathered at the Florence Community Center, just outside of
Northampton, singing together.
But these old-timers aren't scouring their memories for the words to
a World War II-era favorite. They're learning Sonic Youth's noise-
rock tune "Schizophrenia." And the scene is from a
film, "Young@Heart," a documentary about the Massachusetts chorus of
the same name. The movie began its unlikely trajectory two years ago
as a British television special, became a surprise film festival
hit, was picked up by a major US distributor, and will open in
theaters nationwide April 18.
"The film is having success we never could have imagined," says
chorus director Bob Cilman, who founded the singing group in 1982 as
a way to break up the tedium at a housing project for low-income
elderly where he worked. Over the last 25 years the Young@Heart
chorus has transformed youth anthems into surprising - and
surprisingly moving - commentaries on what it means to grow old.
Their repertoire includes the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," the Bee
Gees' "Stayin' Alive," Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and Bob
Dylan's "Forever Young," and the chorus has become a staple at
cutting-edge arts festivals in Europe.
But while the 27 members of Young@Heart - minimum age 73 - have
traveled overseas more than a dozen times in the past decade,
performing for sold-out houses in Rotterdam, Berlin, London, and
Brussels, the group hasn't made much of an impression stateside.
That's likely to change now that Fox Searchlight - the specialty
film division that made hits out of "Juno" and "Little Miss
Sunshine" - has picked up distribution rights to "Young@Heart."
"It's fun, but a little wearying on many levels," Cilman says of the
attention.
He's on the phone from Los Angeles, one of 15 cities the chorus
members will hit to promote the movie. Fatigue is no small issue,
but according to Cilman they are having "the time of their lives."
Three singers appear at each event, a rotation that will allow
everyone the chance to participate. The entire chorus will perform
in Newport, R.I., on April 27 at a special concert following a
screening of the film.
"Like a comet going across the sky," is how 79-year-old Steve Martin
describes the experience.
Ensconced in a suite at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, Calif.,
Martin - who lives alone in a condo in Springfield - sounds
positively giddy. "At this age we've had good things and bad things
happen to us and you face life with a lot more reality," he
says. "We know in our hearts that this is a one-time shot. It's the
World Series and the Super Bowl and the Olympics rolled into one."
Related
Listen to audio clips of the Young @ Heart Chorus
Official website:
www.youngatheartchorus.com
More: www.foxsearchlight.com/youngatheart
In some ways it's a typical golden-years scene: two dozen senior
citizens gathered at the Florence Community Center, just outside of
Northampton, singing together.
But these old-timers aren't scouring their memories for the words to
a World War II-era favorite. They're learning Sonic Youth's noise-
rock tune "Schizophrenia." And the scene is from a
film, "Young@Heart," a documentary about the Massachusetts chorus of
the same name. The movie began its unlikely trajectory two years ago
as a British television special, became a surprise film festival
hit, was picked up by a major US distributor, and will open in
theaters nationwide April 18.
"The film is having success we never could have imagined," says
chorus director Bob Cilman, who founded the singing group in 1982 as
a way to break up the tedium at a housing project for low-income
elderly where he worked. Over the last 25 years the Young@Heart
chorus has transformed youth anthems into surprising - and
surprisingly moving - commentaries on what it means to grow old.
Their repertoire includes the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," the Bee
Gees' "Stayin' Alive," Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and Bob
Dylan's "Forever Young," and the chorus has become a staple at
cutting-edge arts festivals in Europe.
But while the 27 members of Young@Heart - minimum age 73 - have
traveled overseas more than a dozen times in the past decade,
performing for sold-out houses in Rotterdam, Berlin, London, and
Brussels, the group hasn't made much of an impression stateside.
That's likely to change now that Fox Searchlight - the specialty
film division that made hits out of "Juno" and "Little Miss
Sunshine" - has picked up distribution rights to "Young@Heart."
"It's fun, but a little wearying on many levels," Cilman says of the
attention.
He's on the phone from Los Angeles, one of 15 cities the chorus
members will hit to promote the movie. Fatigue is no small issue,
but according to Cilman they are having "the time of their lives."
Three singers appear at each event, a rotation that will allow
everyone the chance to participate. The entire chorus will perform
in Newport, R.I., on April 27 at a special concert following a
screening of the film.
"Like a comet going across the sky," is how 79-year-old Steve Martin
describes the experience.
Ensconced in a suite at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, Calif.,
Martin - who lives alone in a condo in Springfield - sounds
positively giddy. "At this age we've had good things and bad things
happen to us and you face life with a lot more reality," he
says. "We know in our hearts that this is a one-time shot. It's the
World Series and the Super Bowl and the Olympics rolled into one."
Related
Listen to audio clips of the Young @ Heart Chorus
Official website:
www.youngatheartchorus.com
More: www.foxsearchlight.com/youngatheart
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Threads
So, this afternoon, my grandmother's life came to an end.
Born in 1911 she was two months away from her 97th birthday. She is survived by 2 sisters, four children, 14 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren (plus one more expected in April), and 2 great-great grandchildren. She was the wife of the late Michael Rosa who died in September of 1970.
Through the ages the fates have been portrayed as 3 sisters, spinning out the threads of human life. It struck me that my grandmother's life can in fact be measured, most deftly, in thread. For those who did not know, my grandmother was a master crocheter. In her hands a hook became something that displayed her consummate artistry. She learned the skill as a child and never gave it up her entire life. If she sold her work at a craft fair she would sell out of what she brought and go home with orders from people amounting to more items then she came with to sell. Taking a pride in her work she would reserve her most exquisite work for baby clothes and accessories. In the time it would take some to begin to understand a pattern for a project, she would have expounded upon that idea and fashioned a work that was something completely new. When I think about how she could not leave a pattern unaltered I am reminded of a story about George Frederick Handel; Handel was asked why he so blatantly stole a melody from another composer he replied "Well, he didn't know what a good thing he had there, I had to take it!"
For as long as I live I will remember her being a part of my life. Holidays were not complete without a visit to her home. Rights of passage were always missing something if she were not there.
I hope she was proud of me. I hope she knows I'm going to be ok, that my family will make her proud. That I will continue to spread her legacy of sharing the creative powers with which God so richly endowed her family.
Born in 1911 she was two months away from her 97th birthday. She is survived by 2 sisters, four children, 14 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren (plus one more expected in April), and 2 great-great grandchildren. She was the wife of the late Michael Rosa who died in September of 1970.
Through the ages the fates have been portrayed as 3 sisters, spinning out the threads of human life. It struck me that my grandmother's life can in fact be measured, most deftly, in thread. For those who did not know, my grandmother was a master crocheter. In her hands a hook became something that displayed her consummate artistry. She learned the skill as a child and never gave it up her entire life. If she sold her work at a craft fair she would sell out of what she brought and go home with orders from people amounting to more items then she came with to sell. Taking a pride in her work she would reserve her most exquisite work for baby clothes and accessories. In the time it would take some to begin to understand a pattern for a project, she would have expounded upon that idea and fashioned a work that was something completely new. When I think about how she could not leave a pattern unaltered I am reminded of a story about George Frederick Handel; Handel was asked why he so blatantly stole a melody from another composer he replied "Well, he didn't know what a good thing he had there, I had to take it!"
For as long as I live I will remember her being a part of my life. Holidays were not complete without a visit to her home. Rights of passage were always missing something if she were not there.
I hope she was proud of me. I hope she knows I'm going to be ok, that my family will make her proud. That I will continue to spread her legacy of sharing the creative powers with which God so richly endowed her family.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
There is a way to overcome what we have been taught, the harmful habbits that we consider to be our truths. I hope getting there is not too painful for those that make the journey.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Odds and Ends
I need to be better about posting once a week. I think I can handle that. The oddest thing has started happening lately with our coffee maker. One day I forgot to set it to turn on automatically, the next day I found that while I had set it to go on automatically we had neglected to turn the clock ahead one hour. A few days later I forgot to put a filter in the basket and so the grinds clogged the spout, causing the coffee to back up and then spill all over. In helping to clean up this spill K unplugged the unit AND remembered to reset the clock but forgot to set the clock so the unit would start brewing, I did not realize this and so had to turn on the unit when I got up this morning.
What is it with this thing? After 2 years I suddenly start having issues? Maybe there is some planet that messes with a Libra's abilities?
Lesson learned: don't take anything for granted.
What is it with this thing? After 2 years I suddenly start having issues? Maybe there is some planet that messes with a Libra's abilities?
Lesson learned: don't take anything for granted.
Friday, March 7, 2008
HR
So today at a luncheon I went to the issue of what workers in a company's HR department take upon themselves to decide about an potential hire came up. The trouble with HR departments is that the areas of expertise for an HR person usually have nothing to do with what a company does. No librarian (for instance) says one day "oh, let me go back to school and start a new career in HR for libraries." Now, if a person works many years for an employer, of course that person (most likely) will acquire some expertise in what kind of work the jobs for that company require. You are basically in the hands of a person who knows nothing about what you do in your field and (more than likely) knows nothing about the job you are applying for.
All hope is not lost! In many situations HR are just a gateway through which your application comes. Your packet is then passed on to a search committee. For the most part these people are able to cast a subjective eye over your material and a pool of candidates begins to be created.
For myself I can only only wonder how frustrating it must be to work in an HR department? All the pressure to have to do things in an exact prescribed fashion, no matter what.
All hope is not lost! In many situations HR are just a gateway through which your application comes. Your packet is then passed on to a search committee. For the most part these people are able to cast a subjective eye over your material and a pool of candidates begins to be created.
For myself I can only only wonder how frustrating it must be to work in an HR department? All the pressure to have to do things in an exact prescribed fashion, no matter what.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Offshoot of February 16th Post
It takes all kinds...
Author admits making up memoir of surviving Holocaust
By David Mehegan, Globe Staff February 29, 2008
Eleven years after the publication of her best-selling Holocaust memoir - a heartwarming tale of a small Jewish girl trekking across Europe and living with wolves - the Massachusetts author yesterday admitted the whole story was a hoax.
In a statement issued by her Belgian lawyer, Misha Defonseca of Dudley, whose book, "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years," has been translated into 18 languages and is the basis for a new French movie, "Survivre avec les Loups" ("Surviving With the Wolves"), confessed that she is not Jewish and that she spent the war safely in Brussels.
The 1997 book was the center of a multimillion-dollar legal battle pitting Defonseca and her coauthor, Vera Lee of Newton, against publisher Jane Daniel of Gloucester. The book was a bestseller in Europe and Canada, and attracted attention from Walt Disney Co. and Oprah Winfrey, but it sold few copies in the United States, largely because the marketing stopped after the authors sued.
Daniel's imprint, Mt. Ivy Press, was a one-woman operation when she met Defonseca in the mid-1990s, heard her story, and suggested that she write a book. In 2001, a Middlesex Superior Court jury issued a $7.5 million breach-of-contract judgment against Daniel after Defonseca and Lee alleged that she had failed to publicize the book as promised and had hidden profits. The judge in the case tripled the damages to $22.5 million, and an appeals court upheld the verdict in 2005.
Yesterday's confession follows a week of intense publicity in French and Belgian media, prompted by disclosure of documents unearthed by Waltham-based genealogical researcher Sharon Sergeant showing that Monique De Wael (Defonseca's real maiden name) was baptized in a Brussels Catholic church in September 1937 and that she was enrolled in a Brussels primary school in 1943-44. The researcher also discovered that Defonseca's parents, Robert and Josephine De Wael, were members of the Belgian resistance and were arrested and executed by the Nazis.
In her statement, approximately translated from the French, Defonseca said: "Yes, my name is Monique De Wael, but I have wanted to forget it since I was 4 years old. My parents were arrested and I was taken in by my grandfather, Ernest De Wael, and my uncle, Maurice De Wael. I was called 'daughter of a traitor' because my father was suspected of having spoken under torture in the prison of Saint-Gilles. Ever since I can remember, I felt Jewish. . . . There are times when I find it difficult to differentiate between reality and my inner world. The story in the book is mine. It is not the actual reality - it was my reality, my way of surviving. At first, I did not want to publish it, but then I was convinced by Jane Daniel. I ask forgiveness from all those who feel betrayed."
In the book, 6-year-old Misha is rescued at school in 1941 when her parents are arrested and deported. She is spirited away to the De Wael family and given a new name, Monique. Unhappy with her host family, she runs away in hopes of finding her parents. Over the next four years she wanders alone across Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, across the Adriatic Sea by boat to Italy, then through Italy across the Alps to France and back to Belgium. Along the way, she is sheltered by packs of wolves, kills a German soldier, witnesses an eastbound freight train full of Jews, wanders into the Warsaw Ghetto, and escapes. A 2001 story in The Boston Globe raised questions about the book's veracity, but Defonseca insisted that it was all true.
"I am flabbergasted," Daniel said yesterday. "It's like something from heaven. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders." She said she hopes to challenge the Middlesex judgment on grounds that the author's original contract had warranted the truth of the story, and that therefore the publisher had been defrauded before the book was published.
Reached yesterday, Defonseca's husband, Maurice, said his wife would not come to the phone, and he referred all questions to the Brussels lawyer. Vera Lee's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for Vera Belmont, the French director of "Survivre avec les Loups," said in an e-mail: "Vera is not making any comment. Her movie is a fiction from the book. No matter if it's true or not - she believes it is, anyway - she just thinks it's a beautiful story."
David Mehegan can be reached at mehegan@globe.com.
© Copyright
Author admits making up memoir of surviving Holocaust
By David Mehegan, Globe Staff February 29, 2008
Eleven years after the publication of her best-selling Holocaust memoir - a heartwarming tale of a small Jewish girl trekking across Europe and living with wolves - the Massachusetts author yesterday admitted the whole story was a hoax.
In a statement issued by her Belgian lawyer, Misha Defonseca of Dudley, whose book, "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years," has been translated into 18 languages and is the basis for a new French movie, "Survivre avec les Loups" ("Surviving With the Wolves"), confessed that she is not Jewish and that she spent the war safely in Brussels.
The 1997 book was the center of a multimillion-dollar legal battle pitting Defonseca and her coauthor, Vera Lee of Newton, against publisher Jane Daniel of Gloucester. The book was a bestseller in Europe and Canada, and attracted attention from Walt Disney Co. and Oprah Winfrey, but it sold few copies in the United States, largely because the marketing stopped after the authors sued.
Daniel's imprint, Mt. Ivy Press, was a one-woman operation when she met Defonseca in the mid-1990s, heard her story, and suggested that she write a book. In 2001, a Middlesex Superior Court jury issued a $7.5 million breach-of-contract judgment against Daniel after Defonseca and Lee alleged that she had failed to publicize the book as promised and had hidden profits. The judge in the case tripled the damages to $22.5 million, and an appeals court upheld the verdict in 2005.
Yesterday's confession follows a week of intense publicity in French and Belgian media, prompted by disclosure of documents unearthed by Waltham-based genealogical researcher Sharon Sergeant showing that Monique De Wael (Defonseca's real maiden name) was baptized in a Brussels Catholic church in September 1937 and that she was enrolled in a Brussels primary school in 1943-44. The researcher also discovered that Defonseca's parents, Robert and Josephine De Wael, were members of the Belgian resistance and were arrested and executed by the Nazis.
In her statement, approximately translated from the French, Defonseca said: "Yes, my name is Monique De Wael, but I have wanted to forget it since I was 4 years old. My parents were arrested and I was taken in by my grandfather, Ernest De Wael, and my uncle, Maurice De Wael. I was called 'daughter of a traitor' because my father was suspected of having spoken under torture in the prison of Saint-Gilles. Ever since I can remember, I felt Jewish. . . . There are times when I find it difficult to differentiate between reality and my inner world. The story in the book is mine. It is not the actual reality - it was my reality, my way of surviving. At first, I did not want to publish it, but then I was convinced by Jane Daniel. I ask forgiveness from all those who feel betrayed."
In the book, 6-year-old Misha is rescued at school in 1941 when her parents are arrested and deported. She is spirited away to the De Wael family and given a new name, Monique. Unhappy with her host family, she runs away in hopes of finding her parents. Over the next four years she wanders alone across Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, across the Adriatic Sea by boat to Italy, then through Italy across the Alps to France and back to Belgium. Along the way, she is sheltered by packs of wolves, kills a German soldier, witnesses an eastbound freight train full of Jews, wanders into the Warsaw Ghetto, and escapes. A 2001 story in The Boston Globe raised questions about the book's veracity, but Defonseca insisted that it was all true.
"I am flabbergasted," Daniel said yesterday. "It's like something from heaven. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders." She said she hopes to challenge the Middlesex judgment on grounds that the author's original contract had warranted the truth of the story, and that therefore the publisher had been defrauded before the book was published.
Reached yesterday, Defonseca's husband, Maurice, said his wife would not come to the phone, and he referred all questions to the Brussels lawyer. Vera Lee's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for Vera Belmont, the French director of "Survivre avec les Loups," said in an e-mail: "Vera is not making any comment. Her movie is a fiction from the book. No matter if it's true or not - she believes it is, anyway - she just thinks it's a beautiful story."
David Mehegan can be reached at mehegan@globe.com.
© Copyright
Six Words
This entry references a topic that has come to have some circulation in my life lately:
"NPR Book Notes
Non-Fiction
Six-Word Memoirs: Life Stories Distilled
See a gallery of illustrated six-word memoirs
“Revenge is living well, without you.”
Author Joyce Carol Oates
“Fight, work, persevere -- gain slight notoriety.”
Comic book writer Harvey Pekar
Talk of the Nation, February 7, 2008 · Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."
In this spirit of simple yet profound brevity, the online magazine Smith asked readers to write the story of their own lives in a single sentence. The result is Not Quite What I Was Planning, a collection of six-word memoirs by famous and not-so-famous writers, artists and musicians. Their stories are sometimes sad, often funny — and always concise.
The book is full of well-known names — from writer Dave Eggers (Fifteen years since last professional haircut), to singer Aimee Mann (Couldn't cope so I wrote songs), to comedian Stephen Colbert (Well, I thought it was funny).
The collection has plenty of six-word insights from everyday folks as well: Love me or leave me alone was scrawled on a hand dryer in a public bathroom; I still make coffee for two was penned by a 27-year-old who had just been dumped.
Larry Smith, founding editor of Smith magazine, and Rachel Fershleiser, Smith's memoir editor, talk about the experience of capturing real-life stories in six words — no more, no less.
Fershleiser's six-word memoir? Bespectacled, besneakered, read and ran around.
And Smith's: Big hair, big heart, big hurry"
So then what about me?
Head inclined, listening for the muse.
(if you think this is easy to do, you're mistaken)
"NPR Book Notes
Non-Fiction
Six-Word Memoirs: Life Stories Distilled
See a gallery of illustrated six-word memoirs
“Revenge is living well, without you.”
Author Joyce Carol Oates
“Fight, work, persevere -- gain slight notoriety.”
Comic book writer Harvey Pekar
Talk of the Nation, February 7, 2008 · Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."
In this spirit of simple yet profound brevity, the online magazine Smith asked readers to write the story of their own lives in a single sentence. The result is Not Quite What I Was Planning, a collection of six-word memoirs by famous and not-so-famous writers, artists and musicians. Their stories are sometimes sad, often funny — and always concise.
The book is full of well-known names — from writer Dave Eggers (Fifteen years since last professional haircut), to singer Aimee Mann (Couldn't cope so I wrote songs), to comedian Stephen Colbert (Well, I thought it was funny).
The collection has plenty of six-word insights from everyday folks as well: Love me or leave me alone was scrawled on a hand dryer in a public bathroom; I still make coffee for two was penned by a 27-year-old who had just been dumped.
Larry Smith, founding editor of Smith magazine, and Rachel Fershleiser, Smith's memoir editor, talk about the experience of capturing real-life stories in six words — no more, no less.
Fershleiser's six-word memoir? Bespectacled, besneakered, read and ran around.
And Smith's: Big hair, big heart, big hurry"
So then what about me?
Head inclined, listening for the muse.
(if you think this is easy to do, you're mistaken)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
What You Do
Well, to the relief of some, I haven't got it in me this week. I wanted to talk about making money with your talent but it hits too close to home on the day of my re-audtion for TFC.
I'll leave you with this: be good to each other.
I'll leave you with this: be good to each other.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Courage
"Oh Father! Betsie! If I had known, would I have gone ahead? Could I have done the things I did?"
- Corrie Ten Boom
- Corrie Ten Boom
Today I want to talk about courage. I am reminded of the woman who wrote these words when I read about a recent decision made by the French president to have French school children learn the story of the French children who were victims of the holocaust.
Corrie Ten Boom and her family owned a watch shop in Haarlem (a city west of Amsterdam). The family decided to help Jews as well as those from other groups escape from the Nazis by hiding them in a secret place. Those people would then secretly leave the city on their way to safety. Of course this was very dangerous work; the threat of discovery was ever present. Of course Corrie did find the strength to help those people.
I am moved by that fact that, years later when recounting the story, Corrie still thought to ask of her self: would I have done it? The children of France need to not just learn the stories of the victims, but of the overcomers and those who helped them to overcome. The real courage comes not from showing bravery in the face of the Nazis (this is courage but the immediacy of a situation can make such bravery possible) but making the decision to put oneself in the path of those who would do harm to others.
We can all postulate as to what might become of us if we put ourselves in the position of doing something to take someone out of harms way, but will we be able to accept the decision and begin to live it day to day?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A lesson in consideration
Years ago a friend of mine taught me a very important lesson. He told me a story about himself and how a good friend of his actually taught him this lesson (see how this works?) He told me that one day this friend asked him "hey, how's it going?" and without further ado he began to tell her all about how stressed he was and how terrible his life was going. She listened for a bit (it was unclear how long) and then interrupted him. She went on to explain that this was becoming a rather bad habit of late, this complaining. She explained further that when one asks another, "How are you?" you must realize that in almost all cases, the burden is on the respondent to not read too much into the question and to respond in a way that includes the person who asked.
For instance "How are you today?" (Maybe you are tired) "Oh, it's been a long day, can't wait to get home!" This is something the person who asked can relate to and does not force them to engage you any further if that person chooses not to.
A good friend or loved one knows what is going on with you and will most likely ask more specific questions, indicating to you that you may proceed to discuss an issue in greater detail.
This has proven to be good advice in my life in that it keeps those around me from becoming leery of me in social (or more intimate) situations. This, like any other good habit, can be difficult to make a part of your life, but in the end is defiantly worth it.
For instance "How are you today?" (Maybe you are tired) "Oh, it's been a long day, can't wait to get home!" This is something the person who asked can relate to and does not force them to engage you any further if that person chooses not to.
A good friend or loved one knows what is going on with you and will most likely ask more specific questions, indicating to you that you may proceed to discuss an issue in greater detail.
This has proven to be good advice in my life in that it keeps those around me from becoming leery of me in social (or more intimate) situations. This, like any other good habit, can be difficult to make a part of your life, but in the end is defiantly worth it.
Monday, February 4, 2008
So many things to think about
I would very much like to avoid discussing very personal or intimate details of my life in this blog. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that these details may concern people who do not wiah to be in my blog. As such you may find some of what I relate to be somewhat lacking in detail.
I am feeling very stressed right now with work, I have a lot of translating to do and I'm working on several documents (in English!) that will provide instruction to our patrons. These tasks are in addition to my existing duties as librarian. What really gets me about times like these is that you know that once it is over, you won't feel like this anymore.
Anyway, back to work.
I am feeling very stressed right now with work, I have a lot of translating to do and I'm working on several documents (in English!) that will provide instruction to our patrons. These tasks are in addition to my existing duties as librarian. What really gets me about times like these is that you know that once it is over, you won't feel like this anymore.
Anyway, back to work.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Library School
So back when I was an undergrad I worked in the library on campus in the circulation department. In the normal course of events you get to talking with people and you come to find out how the people who work full time came be doing that.
For the most part librarians have gone to library school. At this point in time "library school" means a masters program at an institution accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). There are undergraduate programs that will prepare you for a masters program but there is currently (that I am aware of) no bachelors degree in Library and Information Science. As you may know, not all librarians have MLS degrees. There are many who have become librarians through years of experience.
What does the word "librarian" mean then? The term is quite specific actually. A library is just like any work place, there are different jobs that make it run. Generally speaking, a librarian is a rank within the organization and not a general job title for every person who works at the library. Library's have library assistants, volunteers, people who work in library systems (computers or "IT"), and those who work in acquisitions and cataloguing. Most likely each area has a coordinator (maybe called a dept. head or supervisor) and that person could have the title of librarian, but not always. Sometimes, there is only one position that is actually called "librarian." This means many things but most often it means you get paid more for what you do. Make no mistake, a title means nothing in terms of how much work you do.
What you notice in looking at job descriptions is that a position with the word "librarian" attached to it demands not just credentials but experience. Like many jobs they require that you bring something to the table in order to deserve what you are being offered.
What is common practice is to address someone who may not have the official title of librarian, as a librarian. I am officially a Reader Advisor, that is what you will see on my job description. If you ask anyone who knows me, I am a librarian. My boss is the Regional Librarian for Massachusetts. There is only one librarian here at BTBL in this case (note: we are not the only two people here).
So there's a bit of information for you, ask me about my job some day, I'll be happy to tell you (maybe another entry...)
For the most part librarians have gone to library school. At this point in time "library school" means a masters program at an institution accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). There are undergraduate programs that will prepare you for a masters program but there is currently (that I am aware of) no bachelors degree in Library and Information Science. As you may know, not all librarians have MLS degrees. There are many who have become librarians through years of experience.
What does the word "librarian" mean then? The term is quite specific actually. A library is just like any work place, there are different jobs that make it run. Generally speaking, a librarian is a rank within the organization and not a general job title for every person who works at the library. Library's have library assistants, volunteers, people who work in library systems (computers or "IT"), and those who work in acquisitions and cataloguing. Most likely each area has a coordinator (maybe called a dept. head or supervisor) and that person could have the title of librarian, but not always. Sometimes, there is only one position that is actually called "librarian." This means many things but most often it means you get paid more for what you do. Make no mistake, a title means nothing in terms of how much work you do.
What you notice in looking at job descriptions is that a position with the word "librarian" attached to it demands not just credentials but experience. Like many jobs they require that you bring something to the table in order to deserve what you are being offered.
What is common practice is to address someone who may not have the official title of librarian, as a librarian. I am officially a Reader Advisor, that is what you will see on my job description. If you ask anyone who knows me, I am a librarian. My boss is the Regional Librarian for Massachusetts. There is only one librarian here at BTBL in this case (note: we are not the only two people here).
So there's a bit of information for you, ask me about my job some day, I'll be happy to tell you (maybe another entry...)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Allegories
I very much value the allegory as a method of instruction. I have come to value them due to the types of books I have read (and read) that use allegory. I have two very clear topics in mind for this post, the periods of rest in one's life and those of action.
Shakespeare's Hamlet shows the consequences of both of these topics in gory detail. Hamlet's father's ghost comes to him and tells him to avenge his death and Hamlet spends the rest of the play not doing much about it. We see the consequences of Hamlet's inaction quite clearly when there are more dead people than living left in the Danish court by the end of the play (unintended consequence is another post for all you Ophelia fans out there).
Hamlet has enjoyed the privileges of his royal life and the chance for inaction that comes from those privileges. Now comes the time for action and we the audience must decide if Hamlet is to be blamed for just standing there talking to himself. I'm not sure what I would do if my father's ghost came to me and said "Hey! Your uncle killed me while I was taking a nap, take care of that for me." Most know the anguish of having to get over the initial shock of big news and having to then take action. Some say that inaction is a kind of action as it demonstrates the more important fact that you made a choice, thus overcoming indecision.
It is all to easy to say "I didn't ask for this you know!" and any fair minded person will agree with you when that is the case. History is full of examples of undue hardship (various genocides, plagues, etc.) where people are expected to not just survive, but overcome. The best thing to say to someone who faces sudden adversity is to remind him that indecision is never an option.
So then in life we have the times spent in the green valleys, the garden shades. We must learn to see these times for what they are, a chance to refresh and restore what was taken away by the journey to get there. The other periods are spent in the high places with rocks, snow, wind, and cold. These high places also afford a look around at where you have been and (sometimes) where you are going. We may become battered and bruised while in the high places, but we are still there.
Alright, enough of that for now.
This sermon brought to you by my love of reading and by a little verse in the book of Habakkuk.
Shakespeare's Hamlet shows the consequences of both of these topics in gory detail. Hamlet's father's ghost comes to him and tells him to avenge his death and Hamlet spends the rest of the play not doing much about it. We see the consequences of Hamlet's inaction quite clearly when there are more dead people than living left in the Danish court by the end of the play (unintended consequence is another post for all you Ophelia fans out there).
Hamlet has enjoyed the privileges of his royal life and the chance for inaction that comes from those privileges. Now comes the time for action and we the audience must decide if Hamlet is to be blamed for just standing there talking to himself. I'm not sure what I would do if my father's ghost came to me and said "Hey! Your uncle killed me while I was taking a nap, take care of that for me." Most know the anguish of having to get over the initial shock of big news and having to then take action. Some say that inaction is a kind of action as it demonstrates the more important fact that you made a choice, thus overcoming indecision.
It is all to easy to say "I didn't ask for this you know!" and any fair minded person will agree with you when that is the case. History is full of examples of undue hardship (various genocides, plagues, etc.) where people are expected to not just survive, but overcome. The best thing to say to someone who faces sudden adversity is to remind him that indecision is never an option.
So then in life we have the times spent in the green valleys, the garden shades. We must learn to see these times for what they are, a chance to refresh and restore what was taken away by the journey to get there. The other periods are spent in the high places with rocks, snow, wind, and cold. These high places also afford a look around at where you have been and (sometimes) where you are going. We may become battered and bruised while in the high places, but we are still there.
Alright, enough of that for now.
This sermon brought to you by my love of reading and by a little verse in the book of Habakkuk.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Settling in...
As some of you may know my wife and I found out earlier this month that we are going to have a child. This came as a surprise because, in point of fact, we were told that K could not conceive. As with most surprises in life, we had to come to terms with this and I think we were both surprised by how much we both found we noticed we had issues to come to terms over.
First and foremost we had to accept the fact that K was not just pregnant, but 6 months pregnant. The doctor who gave me the news said (in part) that we would need to speak with an Ob. and decide "what to do about the pregnancy" (just what you want to hear with your father in law sitting next to you). Well, as you may know, there is not much that can be decided in regard to a pregnancy that is 6 months along. Political and religious discussion aside the first issues at hand were; is the baby developing normally, is K in any way at risk, and finally what the hell are we going do?
We have since come to learn that our baby is developing at the expected pace and well, we'll have to see about rest of it when he gets here. Something K and I talked about a great deal in our discussions about ever wanting to have children was my low vision. This low vision problem (high myopia or near sightedness) came down the line through my father's side my father, is the only one of my grandmother's children to have it, he has one cousin with the condition. Complications can arise from this level of near sightedness but there is no real "expected" pathology. It is such a different world now then I was born into that having a child with low vision these days is so very different. Surgeries that were new and ground breaking in the past are quite common and some even widely recognized in the public.
I think I can finally come to why I sat down to compose this entry. One of the issues I found I had to come to terms with was feeling guilty for wishing my son will have no vision problems or any problems at all . Every disabled person must at some point face a very hard fact, that you would not wish your condition on your worst enemy. Some choose more active ways of coming to terms with this, some just live in denial. At the core of this issue is the question "well, does admitting I don't want this for my child mean I am saying I am flawed and damaged?" Well, duh, yes, you are saying that of yourself. I can remember the exact time in my life when I first started to think about this. There was a show on ABC called Life Goes On about a family with a child with Downs Syndrome. The parents of this child find out they are pregnant again (their oldest child is 19) and are concerned that the baby may have Downs. The issue they struggle with is to terminate the pregnancy or not. This causes friction for their son and themselves (the baby turns out not to have the condition). I remember a line from the show where the mother asks the son to be truly honest with himself and ask if he would really want another being to come into the world with Downs Syndrome. I remember this show made me squirm, I wasn't really sure why yet though. I know now I wasn't really ready to think that way about my self and my life yet.
Fast forward to my junior year of college. I am taking an intro to sociology class and we are discussing the Human Genome Project. One aspect of the HGP is unintended consequences in the area of eugenics. Data from the HGP will allow people to know what genes can be turned on or off in a fetus (this "light switch" method is still a ways off even now, though gene suppression is a reality). Now, for the first time I wondered "Hey! What if certain genes were turned off in me? I might not be the me I am now!" (Oh, youth!) It was not until my professor reminded us that until you are faced with the daunting specter of admitting to yourself that, out of love, you wish nothing but the best of health in mind and body for another, this topic really is academic.
So she was right. I never new such angst as I have come to know in these past weeks. What I have come to be most grateful for is that it is not angst over feelings about me and myself. I know my wife feels much angst, some the same, some of a totally different kind that I will never know. We are trying (with varying degrees of success mind you) to deal with the stress of waiting to find out how the next phase of the journey will begin. Imagine being told you are going to journey to the moon but no one will tell you how you will get there, just that it is going to be one hell of trip.
With age comes wisdom, I am so happy for that. Despite the tolls we pay on the way of wisdom, I am happy for that.
First and foremost we had to accept the fact that K was not just pregnant, but 6 months pregnant. The doctor who gave me the news said (in part) that we would need to speak with an Ob. and decide "what to do about the pregnancy" (just what you want to hear with your father in law sitting next to you). Well, as you may know, there is not much that can be decided in regard to a pregnancy that is 6 months along. Political and religious discussion aside the first issues at hand were; is the baby developing normally, is K in any way at risk, and finally what the hell are we going do?
We have since come to learn that our baby is developing at the expected pace and well, we'll have to see about rest of it when he gets here. Something K and I talked about a great deal in our discussions about ever wanting to have children was my low vision. This low vision problem (high myopia or near sightedness) came down the line through my father's side my father, is the only one of my grandmother's children to have it, he has one cousin with the condition. Complications can arise from this level of near sightedness but there is no real "expected" pathology. It is such a different world now then I was born into that having a child with low vision these days is so very different. Surgeries that were new and ground breaking in the past are quite common and some even widely recognized in the public.
I think I can finally come to why I sat down to compose this entry. One of the issues I found I had to come to terms with was feeling guilty for wishing my son will have no vision problems or any problems at all . Every disabled person must at some point face a very hard fact, that you would not wish your condition on your worst enemy. Some choose more active ways of coming to terms with this, some just live in denial. At the core of this issue is the question "well, does admitting I don't want this for my child mean I am saying I am flawed and damaged?" Well, duh, yes, you are saying that of yourself. I can remember the exact time in my life when I first started to think about this. There was a show on ABC called Life Goes On about a family with a child with Downs Syndrome. The parents of this child find out they are pregnant again (their oldest child is 19) and are concerned that the baby may have Downs. The issue they struggle with is to terminate the pregnancy or not. This causes friction for their son and themselves (the baby turns out not to have the condition). I remember a line from the show where the mother asks the son to be truly honest with himself and ask if he would really want another being to come into the world with Downs Syndrome. I remember this show made me squirm, I wasn't really sure why yet though. I know now I wasn't really ready to think that way about my self and my life yet.
Fast forward to my junior year of college. I am taking an intro to sociology class and we are discussing the Human Genome Project. One aspect of the HGP is unintended consequences in the area of eugenics. Data from the HGP will allow people to know what genes can be turned on or off in a fetus (this "light switch" method is still a ways off even now, though gene suppression is a reality). Now, for the first time I wondered "Hey! What if certain genes were turned off in me? I might not be the me I am now!" (Oh, youth!) It was not until my professor reminded us that until you are faced with the daunting specter of admitting to yourself that, out of love, you wish nothing but the best of health in mind and body for another, this topic really is academic.
So she was right. I never new such angst as I have come to know in these past weeks. What I have come to be most grateful for is that it is not angst over feelings about me and myself. I know my wife feels much angst, some the same, some of a totally different kind that I will never know. We are trying (with varying degrees of success mind you) to deal with the stress of waiting to find out how the next phase of the journey will begin. Imagine being told you are going to journey to the moon but no one will tell you how you will get there, just that it is going to be one hell of trip.
With age comes wisdom, I am so happy for that. Despite the tolls we pay on the way of wisdom, I am happy for that.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
So about 10 years ago a woman I went to college with announced that she was going into Boston to audition for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC). So what is that you ask? TFC is the chorus in residence for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. There was not always a chorus for this purpose, it started a little over 30 years ago. Back 10 years ago you went to the open audition where you were handed a score of a major choral work and they told you what portion of the work you would be auditioning with. We all went in and practiced the section as a big group and then we got called in to sing in octets (2 people to a part). Your octet was then went in and sang the same thing you just sang with the big group. If John Oliver (the director) had some question about your voice or anything else, you and three others sang as a quartet.
Now, if you did well in this audition you got a call back to come sing a solo piece. I got a call back. I was scared to death. I didn't know what to do. I hadn't told my voice teacher I was doing this and that's rather a big deal since they get rather, well, pissy about that sort of thing because they want you to do well as much as you do.
I decided I would audition with a selection from Die Winterise by Schubert that I had learned the last semester. My teacher laughed politely and said no, don't bother, it's not a good piece for you (he had picked it the semester before btw). Instead he told me I should do a piece called The Trees They Grow So High by Britten. I saw two problems, 1. it was in English and 2. it wasn't very glamorous or showy. Dr. McGahan told me it didn't matter, that I have a gift of for interpreting Britten and this would be fine. Now, on the face of it this selection seems rather simple. It is a narrative told by a woman about how she was betrothed to a man, a boy really, who was younger than she and how she was going to have to wait or him to go to school and then come back before they can wed. I'm not sure but I'm reasonably certain what is happening is that father of the girl (who also appears in the work) knows the groom is wealthy and not in the best of health and so the bride will soon be quite rich.
I had to work my ass off to get the tempi right on this, I still wasn't sure I Had it down but I gave it my best shot in the audition. When I finished all John had to say was "Gee, I've never heard that one before." I have since come to know they (conductors) are all like that, they never react to anything. Well, I got in.
So I did about two and a half season with TFC, then I wanted out. It wasn't so much the hard work (it is hard work) but, well, I had a hard time fitting in. I was one of two people from UML who got in from the group of us that auditioned. THe other person seemed to fit in better. Fast forward about 8 years and I am telling my girl friend about my life and every once and a while we talk about TFC. After we had been married we would talk about it now and then and last Spring she asked me if I thought I could get in again, well, I wasn't sure. I looked up the audition dates and saw they weren't far away.
It was very different this time, no big group, just the solo audition. Now though there is a big purge every 3 years (even if you just auditioned to get in right before that!) We all have to go in and sing our hearts out to be able to stay in. Sometimes it's hell, but you are part of something so much bigger than yourself. I love beautiful music, it is something we can only do while we are able to.
Well, that was a mouth full.
Now, if you did well in this audition you got a call back to come sing a solo piece. I got a call back. I was scared to death. I didn't know what to do. I hadn't told my voice teacher I was doing this and that's rather a big deal since they get rather, well, pissy about that sort of thing because they want you to do well as much as you do.
I decided I would audition with a selection from Die Winterise by Schubert that I had learned the last semester. My teacher laughed politely and said no, don't bother, it's not a good piece for you (he had picked it the semester before btw). Instead he told me I should do a piece called The Trees They Grow So High by Britten. I saw two problems, 1. it was in English and 2. it wasn't very glamorous or showy. Dr. McGahan told me it didn't matter, that I have a gift of for interpreting Britten and this would be fine. Now, on the face of it this selection seems rather simple. It is a narrative told by a woman about how she was betrothed to a man, a boy really, who was younger than she and how she was going to have to wait or him to go to school and then come back before they can wed. I'm not sure but I'm reasonably certain what is happening is that father of the girl (who also appears in the work) knows the groom is wealthy and not in the best of health and so the bride will soon be quite rich.
I had to work my ass off to get the tempi right on this, I still wasn't sure I Had it down but I gave it my best shot in the audition. When I finished all John had to say was "Gee, I've never heard that one before." I have since come to know they (conductors) are all like that, they never react to anything. Well, I got in.
So I did about two and a half season with TFC, then I wanted out. It wasn't so much the hard work (it is hard work) but, well, I had a hard time fitting in. I was one of two people from UML who got in from the group of us that auditioned. THe other person seemed to fit in better. Fast forward about 8 years and I am telling my girl friend about my life and every once and a while we talk about TFC. After we had been married we would talk about it now and then and last Spring she asked me if I thought I could get in again, well, I wasn't sure. I looked up the audition dates and saw they weren't far away.
It was very different this time, no big group, just the solo audition. Now though there is a big purge every 3 years (even if you just auditioned to get in right before that!) We all have to go in and sing our hearts out to be able to stay in. Sometimes it's hell, but you are part of something so much bigger than yourself. I love beautiful music, it is something we can only do while we are able to.
Well, that was a mouth full.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Searching and Researching
I have many times read and reread a passage from a book because it strikes me as profound. I try very hard to maintain a record of these passages (maybe it is because librarians know that, more than likely, somebody is going to ask about it someday). I have more than once been very grateful that I have done this. Some are very poignant, some are more mundane.
Very often someone comes to you and asks for advice; sometimes you have none to give. Often you can only think what some other person told you, perhaps you tell the story of another and home it is apt. These are the times you might be very grateful you have learned to recognize wisdom when you see it.
Certainly it is not practical to copy down every phrase that catches your attention, but when something truly strikes you, truly makes you aware of another point of view or another way of describing the world around us, then you might just take it down.
Very often someone comes to you and asks for advice; sometimes you have none to give. Often you can only think what some other person told you, perhaps you tell the story of another and home it is apt. These are the times you might be very grateful you have learned to recognize wisdom when you see it.
Certainly it is not practical to copy down every phrase that catches your attention, but when something truly strikes you, truly makes you aware of another point of view or another way of describing the world around us, then you might just take it down.
Friday, January 18, 2008
TVIs
There are many kinds of educators in the world. By educators I refer to those who are formally trained and who have been assigned some type of title. I would like to tell you about Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI).
TVIs are specialists within the field of Special Education who work with students with visual impairments that range from very low vision (like me) to totally blind. The duties of a TVI are varied and many. For the most part the TVI helps to find ways for the student to learn. This means evaluating the student (as quickly as possible) and finding out how the student learns. This includes learning to read braille (for the record, you can spell it without the capital B) how to use a computer, how to use assistive technology, and how to use books on tape. A school or school system will generally not employ TVIs in their own right, TVIs are generaly subcontractors who work in a consortium or colaborative.
I had 4 TVIs as a student. The first I don't remember very well because she worked with me in Pre-school and in first grade (I skipped Kindergarten, but that's another entry). This TVI evaluated me and helped to set up my Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that would help guide my education over the next 12 years. In the 2nd grade I had a new teacher, she would work with me over the next two years. This teacher taught me how to count coins, tell time, work out math problems (I remember she made me practice erasing...a lot) and many other things I don't even recall. After three years she told me she had to go away because she was going to have a baby and I remember being stunned. She was the first person who ever told me she was pregnant (I'm the youngest in my family and the youngest grandchild on one side so not many babies for me to hear about). The next teacher was only with me for a year (a temporary hire until they found a replacement for my previous teacher), she worked very hard with me training me to use books on tape and to become an auditory learner.
The next year I started junior high and now I had another teacher. To say the least, I was not the ideal student (what pre-teen is?) . This poor woman had to bribe me (chocolate no less) to get me to show up on time for our sessions. Now I was leaning computer literacy. How to type, use a computer in all aspects including word processing and other skills but in a way that allowed me to actually be able to learn, and not miss what I needed to know.
Don't misunderstand, these are not tutors. They facilitate learning by making sure their students are using the best possible accommodations and that the student is being empowered to do this independently. How well the student learns that last lesson is always a bit unclear.
The deal is that when you are done senior year, you don't get a TVI anymore, so you have to be ready (whatever that means!). To say the least, I had no idea how not ready I was, but that's a different post.
These folks help students to go out in the world and take it on. They are deserving of our praise and most of all, our support. I know they have mine.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Welcome
At one time I had on online diary from Diaryland and I gave it the same name. I had to put a lot of thought into that name, that's why I used it again.
For those who do not know, a libretto is a kind of script. All the words to an opera are written out, just like a script, and that document is called the libretto. It is almost exclusively used for opera, for musicals the same thing is called "book" as in "book and musical by..."
For those who do not know, a libretto is a kind of script. All the words to an opera are written out, just like a script, and that document is called the libretto. It is almost exclusively used for opera, for musicals the same thing is called "book" as in "book and musical by..."
I am a musician. I think about music often, I don't get to listen to it enough and I certainly don't get to perform enough. The libretto is a collection of words, the music is in the score, it happens around, becomes the empodiment of and is embodied by the libretto. So too then this, this blog, is my libretto.
So what then will you find here. I'm not sure. Recent events in my life have prompted me to rethink a great many things. Maybe I will share some of those thoughts with you.
The other day my wife and I were in the midst of a very important discussion about our future. At this point, the "midst" point, I stopped in my train of thought to say to her that I had realized something very shocking to me: I am able to talk to just about everyone, about very deep and important matters, but with her it is not so easy. Of course we "talk" in the traditional sense. We have a great deal in common and share similar interests. Ask anyone we know (including those who may not care to share our company) and you will be told that we are never at a loss for words.
So then what do you think we talked about then? She agreed with me that indeed I do have that problem. K told me that I work too hard to tell her what I believe is the correct thing to say or that I want to say what it is she thinks is the correct answer. She is right; I am into saying the right thing. I'm a librarian; people come to me for answers, for help. Part of my fascination with my wife is that, well, she doesn't really need my guidance, she needs my help. There is a difference there if you think about it. We all know how to dig a hole, more often it would go a lot faster or we could do a better job if someone helped out by grabbing a shovel. We have all seen it, the people who stand around remarking about the ice on the side walk rather then helping up the person who just slipped and fell.
So then this is a problem to work on; getting past the point of not offering my insight, my thoughts, and instead, helping.
In life there are books (there are librettos) anthologies of poetry, cook books and the list goes on and on. Sometimes we find what we need when we go looking for it, other times we must dig and dig. I offer a toast (and my hand) to the lady who plunks on her spelunking gear and goes to seek out the help.
So what then will you find here. I'm not sure. Recent events in my life have prompted me to rethink a great many things. Maybe I will share some of those thoughts with you.
The other day my wife and I were in the midst of a very important discussion about our future. At this point, the "midst" point, I stopped in my train of thought to say to her that I had realized something very shocking to me: I am able to talk to just about everyone, about very deep and important matters, but with her it is not so easy. Of course we "talk" in the traditional sense. We have a great deal in common and share similar interests. Ask anyone we know (including those who may not care to share our company) and you will be told that we are never at a loss for words.
So then what do you think we talked about then? She agreed with me that indeed I do have that problem. K told me that I work too hard to tell her what I believe is the correct thing to say or that I want to say what it is she thinks is the correct answer. She is right; I am into saying the right thing. I'm a librarian; people come to me for answers, for help. Part of my fascination with my wife is that, well, she doesn't really need my guidance, she needs my help. There is a difference there if you think about it. We all know how to dig a hole, more often it would go a lot faster or we could do a better job if someone helped out by grabbing a shovel. We have all seen it, the people who stand around remarking about the ice on the side walk rather then helping up the person who just slipped and fell.
So then this is a problem to work on; getting past the point of not offering my insight, my thoughts, and instead, helping.
In life there are books (there are librettos) anthologies of poetry, cook books and the list goes on and on. Sometimes we find what we need when we go looking for it, other times we must dig and dig. I offer a toast (and my hand) to the lady who plunks on her spelunking gear and goes to seek out the help.
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