Jessamyn

Rural tech geek. Researcher. Librarian resistance. Moss collector. Postcard enjoyer. ✉️ box 345 05060 USA ✉️ (she/her)

Loosely anti-IOT. Keeps a hammer by the printer in case it ever makes an unexpected noise.

library blog: https://librarian.net
personal blog: https://jessamyn.com/journal
reading list: http://jessamyn.info/booklist
ABOLISH: ICE

Public Key

npub1prsjp48zup4rrp4xldg66x7zff2ykvusk47awlhsmaqhm3apl95s53eh8y

NIP-05 Address

jessamyn_at_glammr.us@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsq3cfq6n3wq633s6n0k5ddr0py54ztxwgt2lwh0mcd7stac7slj6gprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntt9q2rr

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1prsjp48zup4rrp4xldg66x7zff2ykvusk47awlhsmaqhm3apl95s53eh8y

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-06-05 21:50:00 UTC

- reply

Wow I feel out of the loop, I don't even know that guy. Seems like he sucks tho, so good for them.

2026-05-19 00:04:19 UTC

Could use info from ppl nerdier than me. A friend asked for a scanner that can make "editable PDFs'" which my experience tells me is not a thing. However I'm aware that the world moves on and it's possible this is a thing now. So, understanding that I am not talking about annotating or making a fillable PDF out of a PDF, are editable PDFs a thing? I have read this page so I think what I mean is "Are editable PDFs a thing that you can do with normal non-Adobe software?"
https://www.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/resources/how-to-make-a-pdf-editable.html

2026-04-08 20:23:51 UTC

- reply

YUSSSS. I do miss this aspect of academic libraries, the weird random shit you can find in the stacks.

2026-01-26 20:41:34 UTC

- reply

Another way to maybe bring in images... I was just reviewing "criminal defense lawyer" and while the search didn't bring up really useful images, searching Wikipedia for images in the "criminal defense lawyer" category turned up a lot of stuff. Not sure how to put those two together but maybe you have an idea.

2025-12-13 18:59:03 UTC

Contributing to history
https://www.librarian.net/stax/5744/contributing-to-history/

2025-11-12 19:56:28 UTC

- reply

OH GOSH YES. My neighbor is a "stoicism solves everything" guy and I'm like "Marcus Aurelius was a terrible hypochondriac."

2025-11-07 19:15:05 UTC

- reply

Update from the state DMVs IT staff (supposedly, as relayed by my mechanic who I both like and trust). No one knows why this is happening, my car should be passing inspection but the software is saying it has failed. They are now suggesting I come back in January so that my car is fully 16 years old according to calendar years.
This is, of course, a ridiculous thing to suggest so I have (politely) escalated this to the DMV Commissioner, my local representative and my regional DMV inspector.

2025-10-01 21:36:10 UTC

[ a rare x-post from bsky because my Vermonters are here]
Everyone makes a big deal about autumn in Vermont and I'll be the first to admit that it's lovely. But there's a darker side to this annual seasonal occurrence, marked when I send this now sixteen year old video around to all my local complaining friends 🌬️🍂 #HolyHoly #vermont
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh3o1_whqu4

2025-09-16 22:41:13 UTC

- reply

Around here (Joseph Smith was born up the road, we see a LOT of 'em) another thing that works great is "Thanks, Jewish" I was surprised it was so simple.

2025-07-12 15:30:13 UTC

- reply

I am sorry this happened to you but also, this is good intel. We've got family of skunks that have a bunch of kits and I'm always a bit leery around them (even though I love them and they are so cute) and ask myself what I might do if I got sprayed by one.

2025-05-01 22:01:25 UTC

- reply

Will not surprise you that I had that on cassette.

2025-05-01 16:21:37 UTC

"On May 1, 1886, Albert and Lucy Parsons led 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue, in what is regarded as the first-ever May Day Parade, in support of the eight-hour work day."
Lucy Parsons was a Black anarchist and she continued her May Day activism into her 90s. Her legacy is complex but that doesn't make it any less powerful. Know her name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Parsons
#MayDay
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/433/485/405/269/111/original/a0c68cdefeed1c80.jpg

2025-05-01 15:42:51 UTC

- reply

It's the most gorgeous part of Vermont, in my personal opinion, but part of that is because of how empty it is which is probably not the vibe for everyone. When I first moved to Vermont I lived on the edge of the Kingdom (just outside it) and I won't lie, it was tough going. A lot of people who were what I'd now call "traditional Vermonters" which, on my drive through yesterday means a LOT of Trump flags and what looks like hard living. It *is* a whole vibe for both good and bad.

2025-05-01 15:28:44 UTC

- reply

I've been giving this privacy talk, keeping it updated, since 2017. We talk about things like third party cookies and smart appliances.
https://www.librarian.net/talks/privacy/
The Flickr group I maintain showing the photographs I've taken so far (only 35%? Feels like more)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iamthebestartist/albums/72157637745168683/
The map on my wall showing how I keep track in the analog world.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/433/276/737/929/940/original/d3c9f64ad8092a9e.jpeg

2025-05-01 15:24:24 UTC

Another "quantified self" thing I do less often than reading books or Wikipedia work is visiting Vermont's libraries. It's slow going, the days I'm usually free (Sundays) most libraries are closed. But! I got a new library on my map yesterday, Groton Library, in a town of 900 people. I gave an internet privacy talk to a very small crowd, got a tour, and got to drive through the Northeast Kingdom on a truly gorgeous day. Is it me or does the library floor remind you of the old Slack logo?
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/433/254/787/935/132/original/4e7c2cbccfe4f530.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/433/254/949/416/997/original/e728d4d0869b3a92.jpeg

2025-04-30 14:52:08 UTC

- reply

I think the thing that aggravates me the most besides all the other things is that they will keep track of how many people click that button and use it as some sort of indicator that there's a groundswell of support for these AI simplifiers and then wedge them into even more things.

2025-04-30 00:26:40 UTC

- reply

Holly grew up in this town and her mom was the town's informal historian, so when she was over earlier she looked around my kitchen, having been there as a teenager which would have been mid-last century sometime. The man who owned the house before I bought it, Dr. Tucker, had delivered her when she was born. We traded stories about town history and had a nice chat.
When I emailed her back to say I'd fixed it, I did suggest she pick it up at the library. Please enjoy her "phone case" EOM.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/424/069/360/475/135/original/71a9d947cb01974e.jpeg

2025-04-30 00:17:26 UTC

One thing I don't mention much about Drop-In Time is how the library will pay me for a few discretionary hours a week to help people in the community. This is usually over email but can occasionally be a house call (only people over 90 years old is my rule) or occasionally, as with today, when they show up at my house and ring my doorbell. This is, of course, discouraged, but small town, what are you going to do? I don't have a doorbell camera so by the time I've seen them, they've seen me. 😂

2025-04-29 01:27:48 UTC

- reply

That's good to know. I have a bunch of older Mac laptops and I should see if Linux Mint is a genuine option for them because they're definitely not running well with macOS anymore.

2025-04-28 17:40:14 UTC

- reply

Book 44: Leap. A graphic novel about a dancing school in Bucharest and the young women who are trying to figure things out in their lives (mainly relationships with other young women or not-so-young women). Beautifully drawn and very relatable and brought me back to my short time in Bucharest in the nineties. Ultimately, like many of these graphic novels, it's a story of friendship and growing up and learning to set boundaries and get comfortable with yourself.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/416/781/801/995/562/original/4c65a174ad45480a.jpeg

2025-04-08 14:54:31 UTC

- reply

Book 37: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books. If you're looking for a lightish book about book banning with a bunch of easily-defeated straw man book banners, this is the book for you. It's simple, a bit funny, and does its best to describe just how communities can get to the point where they want to restrict people's access to information, and the knock-on effects of those restrictions. Did not love this one but I liked it well enough.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/302/905/944/935/900/original/3a990291e5c89e96.jpeg

2025-04-06 18:25:30 UTC

- reply

Book 36: Funny Misshapen Body. This is mostly not a memoir about this man's body. It's a series of vignettes, in no particular order, about the life he's led which got him to where he is now. He's a guy who has sort of lumped through life. Had some challenges like Crohn's disease and weirdnesses at art school, trying to make and keep friends, meet women. He paid his way through some of this doing painting at a wooden shoe factory. It's disjointed at times but a good read overall.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/292/405/191/914/342/original/1e80150f17cec5c3.jpeg

2025-04-02 21:08:12 UTC

- reply

I think it's more like "Fuck the American health care system that made something like ACA necessary" because the ACA has had real measurable positive social benefit, it's just working within a deeply broken system.

2025-03-30 18:03:15 UTC

- reply

https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/252/693/876/581/231/original/d5f6577c50c0b600.jpeg

2025-03-30 17:06:00 UTC

Mentioned this over on Bluesky but in case you're here and not there...
Every Californian with an email address and an internet connection can now visit California’s Bookshelf and access more than 300,000 ebooks and audiobooks via the Palace Project app. Linked PDF describes the program.
https://www.library.ca.gov/uploads/2025/03/pressrelease-2025-03-26-californiasbookshelf.pdf
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/252/458/742/718/689/original/7a8303cd85250506.jpg

2025-03-29 21:49:06 UTC

- reply

My town used to have a resident who exhibited himself with P.T. Barnum as a "human skeleton." He was not, by all accounts, a person with an eating disorder but maybe another problem? Started right after the War of 1812, he was a soldier. Old newspapers are all just gossip for the most part, I tried to assemble a few things that seemed to be consensus. Finally had to walk away w/o quite figuring out when he died, but I know it wasn't 1832! I still know Edsons in town now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Edson
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/247/914/167/112/599/original/8137abdffea3ab16.png

2025-03-28 01:35:14 UTC

- reply

Also our dog Botticelli off to the right hand side. That is my dad and us building a marble coaster using PVC pipe

2025-03-27 00:33:45 UTC

Any special librarians in the US know what exactly is up with SLA (special Libraries Association) deciding to dissolve? I'm not really in that scene but I am super curious what is going on.
https://sla.org/news/697073/SLA-Announces-Dissolution.htm

2025-03-24 17:00:20 UTC

My father was a technology project manager in the 1980s. He gave this commencement speech in 1987 to Boston University’s Management Information Systems program grads. It's about managing technology projects. I found it in a box. I thought you might like it.
https://jessamyn.medium.com/managing-a-new-machine-7f7e44ed60c7

2025-03-23 23:03:19 UTC

I'm not saying I've been at this librarian thing a long time, but I did find this flyer when I was digging around in my archives today.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/214/226/971/594/762/original/2b786bedb35f619c.jpeg

2025-03-23 16:35:43 UTC

- reply

Book 31: Swim Team. A graphic novel for tweens about a girl going to a new school who wants to do math club but winds up in swim club. She doesn't know how to swim and eventually learns as well as learns to be part of a team. This book touches on the racist history of Black people being denied access to pools and beaches (and offers further reading on the topic in the end notes) though it's not the central point of the story which is about teamwork and overcoming fears.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/212/701/651/118/310/original/c9d5d7140debec1b.jpeg

2025-03-22 21:15:13 UTC

- reply

Early American photographers usually have interesting stories. Also, it's fun to track down selfies because most photographers have a picture of themself. Alvan Harper moved from PA to Tallahassee where he took a lot of photos of day-to-day life of both White and Black people. Much of his work was lost but some was found again. I did not write this article but I polished/expanded it AND found the picture of him. Easier to research once I realized he was also A. S. Harper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvan_S._Harper
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/208/128/367/711/831/original/857e666b202e36c5.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/208/132/354/545/574/original/050f2eddca213fc5.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/208/133/945/323/164/original/17bb7e57df5a46b6.jpg

2025-03-21 19:45:40 UTC

- reply

And it's weird to me because... it's state by state. Libby in Vermont won't be affected (not bragging, we'll take other hits) and I think the odd fractured nature of what IMLS does makes this hard for non-specialists to talk about.

2025-03-21 17:11:33 UTC

- reply

I'm sure there are places where people are still doing the "Because neutrality!" argument, and I also agree that it went on far too long. I think the fact that libraries have always been seen a bit like infrastructure (a little invisible, funded through mechanisms that aren't clear) has worked against us. I watched this unfold mainly on Reddit yesterday, was not where I would have liked to have gotten important news about library stuff. May be time for some rapid response teams, etc

2025-03-21 16:15:26 UTC

- reply

Good article, but I feel like it's more complex than this. The lack of pushback (where occurring) is, I've found, not so much because of the lie of neutrality, but b/c in more conservative locations, librarians have been in situations where if they speak out, they lose their jobs and/or control over their libraries (and, of course, some librarians agree with what's happening or have heads in the sand). There needs to be a people+libraries push that goes beyond the library walls.

2025-03-20 14:48:13 UTC

A picture and a poem and a song from my friends to you, to acknowledge that the Spring Solstice is here.
https://homemadejam.org/mix/springequinox-2025.html
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/195/303/388/106/345/original/f9247e097a4742e3.jpg

2025-03-19 16:51:03 UTC

- reply

Another day, another "Gosh I should be working" day writing a Wikipedia article. This one is about Carol Lashof, a playwright who likes to look at classic texts and turn them around, make them more feminist ("What if Eve were created first?") or more socially justice oriented ("What if Tituba was the one telling the story of The Crucible?")
I swear I had not seen this picture of her until after I'd written this article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Lashof
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/190/124/675/615/677/original/ebd98b2613cfb24c.png

2025-03-16 19:43:25 UTC

- reply

Book 30: Anxious People. A book that is about a lot of stressful stuff--a bank robbery, some bad relationships, people with complicated lives--but you can see partway through it's heading somewhere sweet and gentle. A little less relentless than A Man Called Ove (if you read that one) but the same type of writing. I enjoyed trying to figure out where it might go. Don't let the title make you think it might just be a lot of people being nervous and upset. There's some of that but not too much.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/173/800/522/532/762/original/77f644559e6fcf64.jpeg

2025-03-15 16:09:37 UTC

- reply

Occasionally someone just pings me on social media and says "Hey this person really should have a Wikipedia page, don't you think?" and I can assemble one. Laverne Jacobs is a law professor and disability rights expert who is the first Canadian member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She wrote the first Canadian disability law textbook. I'll be honest, this article mostly wrote itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverne_Jacobs
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/167/309/987/849/243/original/95979873f422df1d.jpg

2025-03-15 00:08:50 UTC

- reply

Wait, where? Do you need to live there or something? Tell me more! I like my library just fine but since I also work there sometimes I, too, would prefer to be a LOT more anonymous. Also get a card at VTC (VTSU, Randolph), they ignore the fuck out of you there!

2025-03-14 19:56:36 UTC

- reply

Oooh thank you, that is me. On it.

2025-03-13 17:42:12 UTC

- reply

Alt text: Image of a piece of paper with calligraphy saying "I can't die, I've got graces to dance on that hasn't been dug yet" in purple ink.

2025-03-12 15:57:08 UTC

- reply

Book 29. James. Suggested by the librarian after I returned "Big Jim and the White Boy" This is another Jim-centered reimagining of Huck Finn. My enjoyment of this was only marred by thinking "What is wrong with me that I haven't read anything by Percival Everett before?" Really well-told, a mixture of his relationship with Huck but also the US's relationship to slavery and enslaved people just before the Civil War. Hard to read in parts, as you would expect; more humor than you might expect.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/150/257/266/434/906/original/b93ee43557fcb84d.jpeg

2025-03-11 15:42:11 UTC

- reply

Book 28: Five Star Stranger. A world basically the same as our own except there's an app where you can hire a person to play a role for you in your life. Usually this is just "Attend a wedding/funeral/party with me" but sometimes it's "Help me raise my young child, come every Thursday and pretend you're her dad" Told through the eyes of the stranger/Dad who has his own story that only slowly gets told. I liked it, weird and a little funny with some empathy and some "wtf?"
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/144/543/429/912/576/original/7ca8fa4f4a2d7cd6.jpeg

2025-03-10 19:06:44 UTC

- reply

Book 27: Continental Drifter. Kathy lived in Bangkok with a Thai mom and an American (and older) dad. Her family is quiet. They take summer trips to Maine. Kathy doesn't feel at home in Thailand OR the US and this graphic novel takes place mainly as she goes to her first year of summer camp in Maine and tries to figure out her family, and herself. I liked the storytelling, didn't feel like the usual angsty memoir.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/139/685/676/148/935/original/3ee4ab4000bdbad0.jpeg

2025-03-09 18:08:05 UTC

- reply

I relate to this. Have you considered fixing typos on Wikipedia?

2025-03-09 17:08:07 UTC

I like clocks very much... 363 days of the year. Today is not one of those days.
I have set these clocks
- stove
- microwave
- kitchen wall
- kitchen timer
- dining room
- bedroom
- Jim's room
- office
- office
- kate's room
- pellet stove room
Clocks I have not (yet) set
- car
- library clock
Also have noted two rooms where, despite myself, I have thought "I should put a clock in here..." 🙄 🕰️
#TimeChange #DaylightSavingTime
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/133/568/719/885/461/original/40dd42ca9eeb6e9e.jpg

2025-03-08 20:07:01 UTC

- reply

Book 26: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master. A short graphic novel about the rise of video games and who really deserved the credit for them, a tale about Nolan Bushnell (Atari, Chuck E. Cheese) and Ralph Baer (Magnavox Odyssey, Simon). I didn't know much about this history and liked learning about it. Each man wound up with some credit. The story is great, though told in a slightly weird style with equally not-that-engaging (to me) graphics. A quick read if you're into the topic.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/128/580/298/292/823/original/911130f08601febf.jpeg

2025-03-08 17:13:51 UTC

- reply

DNF: Wires and Nerve. This was probably a great story IF you had read The Lunar Chronicles series which it is based off of. Instead we got a whole host of characters at the beginning and a lot of unstated motivations which were opaque to me. Well-illustrated and lively, but I couldn't keep track of the people and places and when I was halfway through it and still not tracking, I decided it was not for me. Nothing wrong with it, it was just made for people who know the series.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/127/873/291/915/843/original/24034773fa1586fb.jpeg

2025-03-07 18:14:29 UTC

- reply

Book 25: We Are Not Strangers. A "based on true stories" tale of the friendship between a Sephardic man (Papoo, a first generation Jewish immigrant) and a Japanese businessman, Sam Akiyama, who form an alliance when Sam gets sent to an internment camp. This is all told through the eyes of Papoo's grandson, who only learned about this story after his grandfather had died. It all takes place in Seattle, so it's extra interesting for people who are familiar with the area.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/122/484/023/580/113/original/898ef80ac9736ac6.jpeg

2025-03-06 21:03:49 UTC

- reply

Hey I bet there's a solid half hour about how they fed him up his butt!

2025-03-06 20:17:40 UTC

- reply

Offended? Not exactly, but I do get somewhat ragey because... if I wanted a ChatGPT answer I could ask it myself, right? It feels weirdly belittling to have someone just show up with something like that, especially without asking like "Hey I could ask ChatGPT, would that be of any use?"

2025-03-06 20:14:33 UTC

- reply

THIS Mark Wahlberg?
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/117/312/744/483/092/original/9053af0633d7054e.png

2025-03-06 17:26:57 UTC

- reply

Book 24: Big Jim and the White Boy. A re-telling of the story of Huck Finn but centering Jim and making his story his own, not written by someone informed by all the racism of the time and told by a white man. It's the 1800s so there's still a lot of gnarly shit going down but the author and illustrator do a great job showing you another way this story could be told and there are ample notes and reading lists in the back. A quick read and pretty accessible to all kinds of readers.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/116/640/456/712/901/original/e02b5cd1201b7889.jpeg

2025-03-06 16:43:07 UTC

- reply

It's good, I don't know why it's not all over the place. This one I had to ILL from DENVER (which is nowhere near me)

2025-03-06 15:52:53 UTC

- reply

Book 23: The Rabbi Who Prayed for the City. This is the six-years-later sequel to the first Rabbi Vivian book about a lesbian Rabbi in Providence trying to work with her congregation to bring more justice into the world. This one deals with a hurricane (and citywide preparations led by Rabbi Vivian's partner) as well as the launch of an autonomous robot which, for money-raising reasons, is also having its AI shared with Israel. Written in 2023, hits a bit different in 2025, but still a good read
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/116/279/804/463/087/original/a8dd55042d82aa06.jpeg

2025-03-05 18:21:04 UTC

- reply

Book 22: We Had a Little Real Estate Problem. An excellent book highlighting the range of Native Americans doing comedy and the challenges they face, from overt racism, to large amounts traveling, to trying to make jokes about the grim history of colonization, residential schooling, land theft and massacres. Each chapter is an anecdote which builds upon the general theme. Some standout names like Charlie Hill and Will Rogers (and attendant controversies) and some new names you'd like to know.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/111/183/852/868/778/original/5071e44dbce00f8f.png

2025-03-02 16:55:45 UTC

- reply

Book 21: Playground. Another epic tale from Richard Powers. This one appears to be about friendships and class and the competitiveness of young people, the differing trajectories of lives. It's also about the way the world is mostly ocean and the complex ecosystem that exists there mostly unseen. But it's also about AI and there are about two sentences where you realize, you might realize, that the plot is different than you expected or thought. And I had all sorts of weird feelings about that.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/093/873/673/388/721/original/95b3ca5236631298.jpeg

2025-03-01 22:28:17 UTC

- reply

Based on what I know, it's high but not entirely nuts.

2025-03-01 22:04:54 UTC

- reply

I did not go but one of my neighbors went and they said it was a HUGE protest.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/089/434/014/196/749/original/b848635951d73354.jpeg

2025-03-01 01:52:30 UTC

- reply

The Vermont subreddit is LIT following this guy around town. Staying in Fayston apparently. Heard that even though Sugarbush is private property (some of it anyhow) ski patrol have ,mentioned they are unlikely to try to remove protestors....

2025-02-27 23:27:18 UTC

- reply

Looks just amazingly... dry!

2025-02-26 16:04:35 UTC

- reply

Next comment in the thread has the story.

2025-02-26 03:42:45 UTC

- reply

I'm really glad to share her story with you. I knew her a bit before her transition and one of the things that's really great about the way she talks about it is the way she accommodates her past, present, and future. There's a nice feature piece on her in Vanity Fair from a ways back that is also a good introduction to her story.

2025-02-26 01:15:49 UTC

I have been working at my public library on and off for the past twenty years and it was only today that I realized no one on the current staff knows why there are taxidermied piranhas in the children's room (shown here with fun message I left for the children's librarian)
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/067/538/124/923/344/original/157e5c36cfdb9ef5.jpeg

2025-02-26 01:01:41 UTC

- reply

I never want to presume that other people have read or been exposed to what I have read or been exposed to, but I've heard Lucy's book is an excellent read no matter what your particular views are on what you think you should be doing one way or the other (apologies if everyone's already given you dozens of copies)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_Her_Call_My_Name:_A_Memoir_of_Transition

2025-02-25 02:59:57 UTC

- reply

I've been reading a book about Native Americans in comedy and there was a whole chapter on Paul Littlechief who played the Vegas Strip in 1970 and was an excellent self-promoter. He was a Kiowa-Comanche man from Oklahoma. Hard to verify some of the other parts of the story from the book (his second wife was only known as Baby Rae in all sources I could find) but it was a lot of fun trying to track down his old music and photos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Littlechief
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/062/268/967/787/395/original/96ccb855ba2ce03a.png
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/062/269/593/128/111/original/93c5402f5bed6d5d.png

2025-02-24 19:13:03 UTC

- reply

Book 20: Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Lily is a high school senior who sees a newspaper ad for a San Francisco club with a male impersonator and starts to have some new feelings. She has a friend from school she thinks she can go with. Complications are that Lily is from Chinatown and her family will not understand. And it's during the Red Scare. And maybe her friend is more than a friend. The author's afterword showed how much research she did for this YA coming of age novel and it shows.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/060/440/266/031/434/original/cfd6596c659f483c.jpeg

2025-02-23 19:57:06 UTC

- reply

A friend just finished the book The Lost Boy of Santa Chinonia and learned that the book was inspired by the work of Ann Cornelisen. She wrote a book about poverty and power in rural Italy in 1969 when she was living there and working as an aid worker for Save the Children. Her history is all private schools, society mentions, and marrying (tho not staying married to) the "right" men, but she got attention where it was useful, helped where it was needed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Cornelisen
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/054/958/589/439/088/original/748bda4cd2d843ea.png

2025-02-23 00:06:23 UTC

I was on a podcast recently where I got to talk about three of my big loves: Vermont, libraries and taxidermy. You might like it.
https://happyvermont.com/2025/02/22/vermont-libraries-podcast/

2025-02-22 22:53:51 UTC

- reply

YES. I get one haircut maybe every five years and I wonder if it is too much,

2025-02-22 17:36:48 UTC

- reply

Book 19: Winter Morning Walks. Ted Kooser was getting cancer treatment and had turned a corner in a positive way. His doctor told him to exercise and avoid the sun so he took walks by his home in Nebraska in the early mornings and wrote short poems also mailed to his friend Jim Harrison. This collection spans December through March and was so familiar to me, living through my own winter both in the weather and at large. Some lovely observations and elegant turns of phrase which stuck with me.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/048/747/825/187/615/original/c783850a2bb701aa.jpeg

2025-02-22 17:35:52 UTC

- reply

Book 18: What You Are Looking For Is In The Library. This is a very sweet set of gentle vignettes about people who are living unfulfilled lives in various ways. They take different paths but wind up at the community center's library where an odd librarian gives them some reading suggestions and a small felted item. These things help them get unstuck. The vignettes overlap barely but subtly in fun little ways. Anyone who has done library work will enjoy these calm stories that go good directions.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/048/743/102/507/079/original/691ec55ab214b2d5.jpeg

2025-02-22 17:34:49 UTC

- reply

DNF: Be A Blessing. I occasionally get books from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. Free books in exchange for an honest review. This book's blurb did not match what I found inside the book, or maybe I got the blurb wrong. The author wants to talk about the idea of being a blessing, of oneg, of embodying the idea of joy through being a conduit (somewhat) for the divine. But it's VERY Bible-heavy and Israel-heavy and thus not right for this secular pro-Palestine Jewish person.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/048/741/079/781/631/original/5857cf12f387c1f1.png

2025-02-22 17:33:42 UTC

- reply

[rethreading here for a sec, sorry for repeats] Book 17: Brooms. A story place in a world where magic is real but restricted. That restriction is unequally enforced along racial lines in some parts of the country including where the book takes place. A group of mostly women and girls from many backgrounds (queer/non, disabled/non, trans/cis, Black and Choctaw and Chinese American) compete in underground broom racing to help raise much needed cash. Lots of supportive nurturing in this one. A balm
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/048/735/307/005/458/original/13db5ba6cb292dfc.jpeg

2025-02-22 17:18:34 UTC

- reply

I read a book of poetry this past week which was deeply moving. Looked up the poet on Wikipeda, he's still alive in his 90s. His website had an email address (from some local ISP) and I sent a short note just saying that this book he wrote twenty years ago was great and thanks for doing it. He sent me an email back saying how lovely and thank you. What nice human connection, and they are just there for the taking. Here's one of the poems, it's great.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/048/672/669/026/672/original/5d4b3724949c9902.jpeg

2025-02-21 00:05:44 UTC

- reply

Printer lady is a piece of work. She has a Mac and a wireless Brother printer/copier/scanner. "How old is this?" "I don't know, I bought it from a dead person!"
It's wireless. There are three people waiting. It wasn't working well before. I can get it on the library wifi, I can't make it talk to her Mac. She has a cable but the only ports are RJ-45 (OH SHIT IT'S A FAX TOO).
I explain that wireless printing is witchcraft and if there wasn't a queue I'd help, but there is so I won't.

2025-02-21 00:05:22 UTC

- reply

Pat can't figure out why her (Earthlink!) webmail will occasionally open a blank compose window or do other weird stuff. Not sure how to debug ancient stuff that isn't happening now. Also wanted to figure out why videos on PBS will sometimes just be audio no video on Edge. Works fine on Chrome.
Suggestion: use Chrome. Reddit confirms that this sometimes happens. She had a friend who gave her lots of advice (upgrade to Win 11, make backups) but no practical help. I gave her pointers.

2025-02-21 00:05:03 UTC

Drop-In Time! Title: "I knew there were going to be problems when I saw that older woman with her printer on a luggage cart outside in the snow 15 minutes before the library opened" and sure enough, there were.
By the time she got her gear inside, there were two people ahead of her in line. Busy day today b/c weather is less terrible. First up Leslie has a new Mac, wanted to make her pointer larger, add a bookmark to her email, figure out why her battery is charging weird. Done, done done.

2025-02-19 01:01:42 UTC

- reply

I am so sorry. Helping my local friend navigate her father's technology use as her dementia worsened (and her mom was sort of... going through her own stuff but also maybe had some magical thinking about what was happening for a time) was a really difficult situation.

2025-02-18 23:06:50 UTC

- reply

I don't know, I haven't been looking at a lot of news lately. Despite the cover there are almost no cats in the book.

2025-02-14 19:19:23 UTC

- reply

Book 16: And the Sky Bled. This book has a well-crafted plot, a lot of interesting female and NB characters, and is a non-stop sufferfest which I should have guessed from the title and somehow not only decided to read it but decided to finish it. The author admits in the afterword that she was "going through some stuff" and I think that shows in the story, no one emerges unscathed. One of those "this is probably a great book for someone else" novels. Approach with caution.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/114/003/801/057/621/453/original/9b7475fe70a695b3.jpeg

2025-02-11 00:47:48 UTC

- reply

I feel pretty much like I should meet that person.

2025-02-08 18:25:58 UTC

- reply

That FAQ says they are a non-profit corporation registered in Canada. Is that a different thing from a registered non-profit? I can see them if I look them up here.
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/cc/lgcy/fdrlCrpDtls.html?p=0&corpId=4355091&V_TOKEN=null&crpNm=Internet%20Archive&crpNmbr=&bsNmbr=&cProv=&cStatus=&cAct=

2025-02-08 17:02:31 UTC

- reply

This does not directly address the recent events but FYI for people who do not know, they do have at least partial mirrors (and this was as of 2016 so I'm sure things have progressed) in Canada and a few other non-US server locations.
https://blog.archive.org/2016/12/03/faqs-about-the-internet-archive-canada/

2025-02-07 21:31:26 UTC

- reply

Book 15: The Tainted Cup. A book I liked okay. I'm not really a fantasy person; I like some and I don't like others. This, at its heart, is a mystery story. Or, rather, a few mysteries. The world described is interesting and somewhat fantastical with no modern tech and with recognizable elements; a city under siege from unseen beings. A maybe-autistic detective and her maybe-dyslexic assistant have to figure out a puzzling set of murders. I liked the world, but wasn't compelled by the mystery.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/964/709/230/316/289/original/890771793912c2a7.jpeg

2025-02-07 21:09:05 UTC

Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. We got some weather yesterday and today I don't quite trust the bright sunshine. So I'll be cautiously making my way outside and hopefully safely back in again. Be mindful of each other and what we might be facing. Have a good weekend.
Image credit: Stockholm Transport Museum, on Flickr Commons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62173425@N02/6755044713/
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/964/649/227/062/950/original/529937c217545bed.jpeg

2025-02-07 15:42:06 UTC

- reply

Book 14: Mall Goth. This is probably a teen/tween level graphic novel about a young bi goth woman who has a family situation that isn't great (overworked mom, absent dad) which leads her to seek connection with people who may not have her best interests at heart. A guy with a boyfriend gives her a lot of attention. A teacher gives her a copy of Lolita, sends inappropriate texts. She knows there are issues but not entirely how to resolve them. Works out ultimately, but its a real seeming conflict
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/963/352/621/843/394/original/d6230f96d3c1444d.jpeg

2025-02-06 19:41:17 UTC

- reply

Book 13: Side Quest, A Visual History of Role Playing Games. This was both delightful and also a little all over the place. Which makes sense, there are a lot of different parts to RPGs (war games, role playing, D&D, fan groups, theater, figurine painting) but I was thinking it might be a bit more linear and in some cases had trouble keeping track. The author and illustrator each came to RPGs from different avenues (and are themselves in parts of the book) which made it more enjoyable.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/958/620/374/454/777/original/f7494b726c120670.jpeg

2025-02-05 04:05:21 UTC

- reply

This was fun to read I think I caught it because someone else replied to it today. I always think of Mastodon as like friend radio I tune in to sometimes. I especially love having read a couple other people's versions of these and the questions seem to be subtly morphing just a little bit over time.

2025-02-03 19:22:27 UTC

- reply

Book 12: Strange Animals I Have Known. Raymond Ditmars was one of the early founders of the Bronx Zoo and nuts about reptiles and other animals. This is a book he wrote in 1935 which shows its age (Ditmars was not entirely sold on evolution for example, also he was racist towards ppl in other countries) but is a fun read otherwise for some of his experiences dealing with the complexities of zoos, animals, and international travel so long ago. A few dull interludes about the weather.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/941/572/231/917/737/original/c5cb82f7e1dc32ce.jpeg

2025-02-01 21:07:47 UTC

- reply

The Lucasie Family were three, maybe four people, with albinism who were from Europe. P.T. Barnum said they were "white Negroes" from Madagascar (the place one of them was born) and spun a whole tale about them, playing on racist sentiments. It was so over the top, he had to take some of it back when he published his next sensationalist pamphlet about them. They were photographed by Matthew Brady and were the subject of Currier & Ives lithographs. Hard to research.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasie_Family
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/930/667/623/522/305/original/4a709b1ab5d21d7e.png
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/930/668/437/370/367/original/b3e51d172723d95f.jpg

2025-01-31 21:13:04 UTC

Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. I overdid it on the snow shoveling and I am getting up every few minutes to stretch and rewarm the little bag of rice at my lower back. Everyone's got something going on. Try to save your "important" emails for people's work hours or just be mindful of their context as much as you can. Have a good weekend.
Image credit: National Library of Medicine, on Flickr Commons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/47756470@N03/52145309047/
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/925/028/705/488/854/original/dc0fcc699def8059.jpeg

2025-01-31 15:47:25 UTC

- reply

Book 11. The Husbands. This was a nice light story about a woman who lives in a flat in London and one day she comes home from a night out to find that she has... a husband who has appeared in her flat (complete with retconned history). Weirder still, when he goes into the attic to fetch something, a different husband comes down. She has to manage this situation as best she can, keeping some husbands for a while and turning some back immediately, learning a bit about herself in the process.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/923/745/000/088/616/original/4b9f1902078d2557.jpeg

2025-01-30 23:18:29 UTC

- reply

Is that a timezone thing or really just what time the class is in local time? Because... I would just... not be able to.

2025-01-30 23:01:04 UTC

I did the blog meme thing because of @npub1flk…5enp and have now tagged
@npub1ac9…rqzz @npub1m5z…e47a @npub1y3e…3hm2 @npub1x59…gect and @npub1s8l…r53p
Sorry!
https://www.jessamyn.com/journal/2025/01/tagged-in-a-blog-meme-like-its-the-90s
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/919/790/052/851/118/original/44dcf54a617359c3.jpg

2025-01-29 18:13:17 UTC

Helping a friend's mom with a printer that was showing a constant "paper jam" message with no actual jammed paper.
Did ALL the things. Finally asked "Well how old is this printer?" (thinking... maybe under warranty?)
"Oh about 20 years old."
ಠ_ಠ
"OK I am calling it and pronouncing this printer dead at 7:15 pm"
Joke's on me because I got home and it was 6:15 pm and her computer clock was wrong (HOW)
Joke is further on me because she texted me today to say it's now working (ALSO HOW)

2025-01-27 23:49:40 UTC

- reply

Book 10: The Only Ones. This book was dark, not quite too dark for me but close. It takes place in a near future pandemic-ravaged dystopia where some people are immune from diseases for reasons no one knows. These "hardy" genes are sought after and one way to make income is to sell your genetic material. Our female protagonist, who has a very flat affect, does this and things go in a weird way. With a more emotive narrator this would have been unreadable. As it was, it was tough but good.
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/902/981/781/274/628/original/e08bdc14c35d588f.png

2025-01-25 19:00:16 UTC

- reply

Meroë Morse was a scientist at Polaroid and oversaw their black and white research lab. She worked closely with Edwin Land and Ansel Adams. She died young in 1969 and many of her accomplishments are buried in the Harvard Business School's Polaroid archive. They're doing an exhibition about her, now her story can be told. Because of umlauts and a middle name, this article has three redirects. I also added her to the Polaroid Corporation template, where she deserves to be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mero%C3%AB_Morse
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/890/524/047/094/326/original/311fe40434588abf.png
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/890/524/061/988/731/original/720a9c5765d945a9.png
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/890/524/068/174/746/original/420306e976df9480.png

2025-01-24 20:02:54 UTC

- reply

Anafesto Rossi was an Italian opera singer. He toured the world with fourteen trunks of costumes and a diamond ring given to him by the Kaiser. His career spanned two decades and ended with the implication of mental health issues (I could not find sources). I just found his photo and was like "Who is THAT guy?" and now I know. And you do too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anafesto_Rossi
https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/113/885/113/593/230/061/original/734f0c23453d1c92.jpg