Another week …

Another week has gone buy, and still no luck in my search for a Librarian job. I’ve gotten a few more rejections this week, and I’m sending out snail-mail applications today for open Reference Librarian positions in Concord and Nashua, NH. I’m remaining hopeful, as ever, but again I decline to hold my breath for anything.

I found an article this morning that reminded me of a book I read a couple months ago. Clive Cussler tends to start is NUMA books off with a bit of naval history, usually a disaster, a lost ship or a legend, which will come into play in the story. In Arctic Drift, the historical vignette involves Sir John Franklin’s quest to navigate the Northwest Passage with the ships HMS Erebus and Terror. They didn’t make it home, sadly. This article doesn’t deal directly with Mr. Franklin’s expedition, but the HMS Investigator was finally found 150 years after they set out to find the other two ships. This is cool! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100729/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_franklin_ship_found

Job hunting and more tidbits from the news

The job hunt continues for yet another week. I heard back from a few jobs telling me that they found someone more qualified, or at least who lives closer to where they are. I’m not crying – hey, this is life in the “real world” – because I know I just need to keep applying and throwing my resume out there until some library decides I’m the right person for them. Sorry, but there really isn’t anything new or exciting to report on the job front.

I feel the need to share two bits of news this week, one that made me say “Wow!”, and one that made me groan a little in bibliophilic outrage. The first is the story from South Africa of a breaching whale that landed on a sailing boat. I mean, what are the odds of a whale breaching right there? Fortunately everybody (the two humans and whale involved) were OK, and while the boat was kind of wrecked it got the people back to land.

The second story is one I got last night from a friend. This one is about Fred Phelps, his clan, and their attack on the much-loved institution of comic books. I just finished Neil Gaiman’s Newbury Medal-winning Graveyard Book yesterday (highly recommended), and I’m a fan of his Sandman graphic novels after reading Preludes and Nocturnes a couple months ago. To be honest, I remember having an illustrated bible as a kid, and thinking back it was pretty much a highlights version in graphic novel format. I know that comics and graphic novels are wildly popular, mostly with good reason, and that they help a lot of kids who might feel nervous about text-heavy books learn how to read. I don’t know what deity Phelps and his crowd are talking to, but I agree whole-heartedly with my friend’s sentiment: “Comic books. Seriously, have these people NOTHING better to do?” The article, as I received it, follows:

If you are not in a financial position to donate yourself, please pass this on to people you know who love comics.Fred Phelps’ clan is traveling to San Diego to spread their new message…”God hates…comic books…?”

WBC Protests Comic-Book Convention, Helps Raise Funds for Comic-Related Good Causes.

Fred Phelps’ clan is coming to the San Diego Comic-Con! The “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church is planning to picket the convention with their hateful anti-gay, anti-American, and now anti-comic, message.

Fred Phelps and his group travel all across the United States spreading their message of hate and lies. However, when the Phelps group comes to San Diego Comic-Con to protest, they will actually be raising money for two organizations dedicating to doing comic-book related good!

We are hosting a Phelps-A-Thon to counter Fred Phelps’ hateful message. For every minute the “God Hates Fags” clan is protesting, we will be collecting donations to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and The Hero Initiative. (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The Hero Initiative is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays’ creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.)

The Phelps clan will be protesting at the event for 45 minutes, from 1:15 PM to 2:00 PM on July 22nd. You can pledge any amount you chose, whether it be $0.25, $0.50, $1, or even $2 for every minute they protest. You can even pledge a flat rate for the entire time the group will be demonstrating. (Pledge Online)*

The point of this Phelps-A-Thon is two fold. First, we are using Phelps’ own hateful message to raise funds for a good cause, one that will help counter the lies that are being spread by WBC. Second, after the event, we will send Phelps a card, telling him how much money he raised. This will certainly upset the group and it is possible that they will stop protesting in order to stop our fundraising.

During a three month trek across the United States in an effort to promote tolerance and equality, Chris Mason, Founder of Phelps-A-Thon.com, stopped in Topeka, Kansas to visit the Westboro Baptist Church. He sat down for a conversation with Shirley Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and new leader of the group to get a better understanding of why the groups feels the need to spread hate.

On the “God Hates Fags” website, Phelps has this to say about the upcoming protest:

“San Diego Convention Center 111 W Harbor Dr. WBC to picket Comic Con 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center. Are you kidding?! If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent – so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           We can turn these hateful words into positive change.

Chris Mason
Chris@Phelps-A-Thon.com
www.Phelps-A-Thon.com

*Sorry, the link wasn’t working when I got it.

Still waiting on a good word

I’ve found and applied for a few interesting-looking jobs over the past week, including an opening for a Librarian I in Eugene, Oregon. That would be quite a move for me, but it’ll be worth it if it works out. I finally heard back from the Rockefeller Archive Center the other day. They’ve decided to pass me over. I’m not crying or complaining – I know that they had to have found someone who is better qualified and/or has more relevent experience than I do, and I wish that person well. It’s the old double-edged sword striking again: I can’t get a good job unless I have experience, and I can’t have experience unless I get a good job. I’ll just keep plugging, as ever.

I can’t help but notice that sea life has been all over the news recently. There’s the continuing oil crisis in the Gulf, of course, and Paul the Octopus. And I just read an article this morning about a bunch of new (or at least new to us) creatures found in deep water under the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. I remember taking two Oceanography classes in high school and a Biology of Marine Mammals elective in undergrad, so this is all fascinating to me. For those of you who don’t follow soccer, Paul is the octopus who predicted the winners for all eight of the World Cup finals games. This makes him the biggest cephalopod since Peter Benchley’s Beast and that squid who attacked the Nautilus in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Paul goes eight-for-eight http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Paul-the-Oracle-Octopus-goes-eight-for-eight-is?urn=sow%2C255211                                                                                                                                Paul the marketing mogul?  http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Paul-the-octopus-could-make-millions?urn=sow%2C255780

I just found an article about an old ship that was found under the ruins of the World Trade Center. This is awesome, and I felt like sharing it. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/18th-century-ship-found-at-trade-center-site&no_interstitial/

Still nothing new and exciting …

I wish I had something awesome (or at least reasonably positive) to report on the job hunt this week, but sadly this is not the case. Again. I haven’t heard back yet from my two most recent library job applications, one of which I interviewed for: the Rockefeller Archive Center, and the Connecticut State Library. It would be nice if one of them wanted to hire me, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Turning blue and falling over are not my list of Things To Do. I’ll just have to keep plugging as always. I figure there’s a library out there that desperately needs me, we just haven’t found each other yet.

Just another day …

The job hunt continues. I’ve had a few interveiws over the past couple weeks (the Rockefeller Archive Center and two retail positions), but nothing definite from any of them yet. I’m still searching and applying, and trying to keep my head above water at the same time. Until something (else or better) comes through, I’ll just keep plugging away at the job hunt and my current position.

GLBT Pride was this past weekend, if I remember correctly. I was unable to attend any parades or celebrations due to my work schedule, but I’m very proud to be an Ally. I bring this up because of an article I found earlier today on Facebook: Somebody has apparently thought up a drug, to be administered to pregnant women, that is supposed to prevent homosexuality, bisexuality, and interest in “male” jobs and toys and such in unborn baby girls. For crying out loud, whatever happened to things like freedom of expression, and the “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” promised in the Declaration of Independence? It seems like somebody’s actively trying to prevent future generations from having potentially interesting women like Elena Kagan, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jane Lynch! This is not cool, and I can’t be the only person who thinks so. http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/29/doctor-treating-pregnant-women-with-experimental-drug-to-prevent-lesbianism

I’ve been reading some good books this past week or so, two of which tie into what’s going on in the world. I finished Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals earlier this week, and it’s another classic addition to his Discworld series. Think soccer, Shakespeare, a bit of Cinderella, and the glitter of fashion shows. Shakespeare adaptations are usually fun, especially when orchestrated by a master like Sir Terry, and the soccer element certainly meshes with the hype associated with the World Cup. I’m also most of the way through Eric Flint’s alternate-history book 1632. For those unfamliar with the series, a complete modern West Virginia mining town gets zapped into 17th-century Germany, and “Freedom and Justice, American style, are introduced to the Thirdy Years’ War.” It’s a fun book that sort of fits in with the 4th of July celebrations coming up on Sunday. It also ties in a bit to Unseen Academicals, in that one of Mr. Flint’s characters is able to definitively answer the Shakespeare Authorship Question within the story, and Sir Terry at least partly based his book on Romeo and Juliet. “Two teams, alike in dignity … “