Summer Reading Challenge

No, this isn't the type of Reading Challenge that my friend Shree seems to do, this is a personal challenge: I'm going to read all the Children's/Young Adult books on Mt. Bookpile. That includes all the ones I know I'll pick up at ALA Annual in a month. Luckily, I think I can get through about a book a day (remember, many of these are thin books with Big Print and lots of white space).

Stay tuned!

Links Galore

• Traveling to Britian this summer? Check out a book festival while you're there!
• New book blogs to add to your RSS feed: Book Bench (New Yorker) and Sentences (Harper's) (þ: Literary Saloon)
  

Noticed

I'm still buying a lot of books via Amazon (not necessarily from Amazon; mostly from vendors using their site as a storefront) and the past few days I've seen this

Important Message
Due to a new law recently passed by the State of New York we are required to collect NY sales taxes on taxable items sold by Amazon.com on or after June 1st, 2008. If your order is placed prior to June 1st, your Order Total may not include an estimate of NY sales taxes, but those taxes may still be charged if your order is readied for shipment on or after that date.

as I've been checking out. I live in NYS so this will affect me. It will also affect Amazon sellers, like Thing Two, who doesn't collect tax on the items he sells (and I'm not sure he declares all his income from Amazon, either - but that's between him and the IRS).

I wonder how much this will change buying habits. Or selling habbits, for that matter. I mean, $.01 for a book equals what in NYS taxes?

What it's really all about

Despite the date on the calendar, this does not feel like mid-May. Despite the ending of official classes on Friday, this does not feel like the winding down of the school year. As a friend said, the "to do NOW" list will get done, and the sun will eventually warm things up. It's been a difficult year balancing life and work and the fire and moving forward and there are times I wonder if I'm making any headway or doing anything right. Many times, it really doesn't feel like I am.

Then there are those moments when I realize it's not about getting everything cataloged perfectly, or making sure that my lesson plans go perfectly, or that we're completing the insurance claim on time, or pricing out-of-print books, or balancing the budget or any of the other nitty-gritty library management "stuff". It's about the kids. And it's about communicating with them and being seen as an important resource in their lives. I've had that at MFPOW and I've missed it. This year, despite everything, I've gotten some of that back.

Just the other day a parent e-mailed, thanking me for the time I spent with her son helping him choose books at Book Fair - he's read them all already and could I give him some more ideas for the summer? A few students today asked the same question. Also today, one student was honestly upset that our classes were drawing to a close, while several were happy that I'd be working with them more next year.

And really, that's what it's all about. If you can't find that at YPOW, find some other job, some other profession. Really.

Goals for the week

One of my favorite clutter blogs is My Simpler Life. Each Monday she posts simplicity tips...

1. Declutter 30 min and feel the extra space.

3. Let go of an old resolved problem.

5. Where are you overworked? What can you do about it?

6. Disconnect from the internet for a couple work hours and see what you can accomplish.

7. What visual clutter distracts you? What visual pieces inspire you?

As you can see, five of seven are on my To Be Worked On List for this week. Wish me luck!

Let's name names

While many of my friends, acquaintances and others were watching programs like Desperate Housewives last night, Thing One and I were watching Prime Minster's Questions on C-SPAN. If you've never watched it, I can't recommend it enough. Why? Because it's an interesting way for the party in power to respond, publicly, to issues and controversies and for those not in power to posture and accuse. No matter who the PM is, no matter how "damaged" they are, they have to stand there and respond to questions from all sides.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you know that there have been two recent natural disasters in the East: the Burman Cyclone and the Chinese Earthquake. Gordon Brown updated the House on the rescue/aid efforts in Burma, which met with approval from the Shadow PM, David Cameron. However, this exchange struck me:

Richard Bacon (South Norfolk, Conservative) Which country or countries blocked a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Burma, and what diplomatic pressure are we applying on them?

Gordon Brown (Prime Minister; Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, Labour) We are applying a great deal of pressure, and I think it would be in our interest to apply that pressure rather than to name names at present.

No. Let's name name. Who doesn't want to help the Burmese (besides the ruling junta, that is)? Who is trying to block humanitarian efforts? Who is playing politics with people's lives in this despicable manner?

As Cameron said earlier: Everyone will have seen the very swift response of the Chinese Government, which is in stark contrast to the reaction of the regime in Burma, where the neglect of the military junta is turning a natural disaster into a man-made catastrophe.

Given China's involvement in Darfur, one can only imagine who those "nameless" countries are.

The stories we tell

A very close friend of mine spent last weekend with the Landmark Forum. While there, she learned to unpack the stories she had been telling herself about her life, the things that were causing breakdowns in communications and preventing her from getting on with things.

Now, I don't believe you need to spend that money to learn how to see clearly that you are not the kid that got held back a year, or who couldn't get a prom date (or perhaps peaked as Prom Queen). Having said that, I do think that it can be difficult - but very useful - to let go of the past "junk" we're hanging on to, to live lightly emotionally. Holding past grievances against someone isn't healthy, just as trying to live up (or down) to who people thought you were isn't healthy.

It's also pretty damn difficult to change. You can change your job, and all the mistakes and attitudes you had from your previous one won't necessarily follow... unless you let them. It takes work, and commitment, and a self-promise not to beat yourself up if you slip a little (and believe me, as someone with a persistent "few pounds" to lose, I know all about that one!).

Today I read I am Not Joey Pigza, and what my friend has gone through resonated throughout the book. Joey's just figuring out and coming to terms with who he is, when all of a sudden he's being told he's now Freddy Heinz. Joey keeps popping up, as can be expected. His mother isn't happy about that, nor is his newly-returned father. But his father's change from Carter Pigza to Charles Heinz doesn't "take" either, because the underlying person isn't really changing. There's no self-check to say, "ok, you messed up but you can correct this" or "yes, this works and feels good so let's keep on doing it." It's just a sad slide downward.

That's what too many of us do when we try to change. Best of all possible intentions, followed by a few "oopses" and then backsliding into what we were. I hope for my friend's sake that her time at the Forum does affect a real change; as they told her, you have to keep at it, keep practicing, or it'll go away.

Changing your story, or the (as I prefer to think of it) the backstory to the character you know as yourself, is never easy. I think Joey does get some good change out of his time as Freddy, but it would probably have come without being ripped from his known life. Changing even one story, one learned behavior, one small thing can lead to a landslide of change.

Can't take the stress...

It's year-end and there's a lot that needs to be done -- ordering new books for the new year, trying to pre-plan for next year's projects, inventory, updating things, creating an annual report, etc..

And it's time to start thinking about summer vacation, and the things I'll accomplish at home, like finally getting the last bits painted, and working on decreasing Mt. Bookpile (five books this weekend!), and organizing the basement, etc..

I also need to take care of my health (which, according to the doctor, is not "low enough" to be treated).

So what am I focusing on? The Celtics. One of my favorite colleagues (he introduced me to the phrase "Massholes" when describing those of us from MA or who root for Boston-based teams behind "enemy" lines) told me not to fall in love too quickly again. We had the Sox win this year. The Celtics have done far better than ever expected. Prepare to have my heart broken again.

Yeah. Right. Like you can ever prepare for that.

ETA: Four points is not a comfortable lead. So there, Thing One!

Links Galore

• For my LazyReaders: books about procrastination
  
• If publishers can consider dropping paper catalogs, why can't retailers Let Us Go? (þ: Library Link of the Day)
• Mentioned before, but worth mentioning again: Free Rice, a charity that also builds your vocabulary.
• Looking for something to read? I mean, really looking? These favorite obscure books may just be for you (þ: Literary Saloon)
  

Update

I finally heard back from Catalog Choice regarding their really low rate of success. Apparently the reason is

For a catalog to change from "Unconfirmed" to 'Confirmed", one of out merchant account managers needs to establish a relationship with the catalog company. This can be a relatively quick process; or it can take weeks or even months - it depends on the merchant. With six merchant account managers, we are quickly tackling all of the catalogs in our system - but it will take some time before they are all "confirmed".

What irritates me most is the way this service is being billed: that there already are relationships with various merchants and that there will be a relatively quick resolution (if by "relatively quick" you mean 6-10 weeks).

So I'm still recycling too many catalogs and hoping for the best. You?