Librarians: Action adventure stars

Coming soon, if not here already, is the The Librarians, a follow-on series to the three "Librarian" movies of a few years ago. I kind of enjoyed that series, as much for the pleasure of seeing Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin, as the good-natured foolishness of the narratives.

But here we are: Librarians as action adventure stars. Cool! 

So, what is the narrative in your library? What do you seek, provide, obtain? What "super" skills do you possess? Do you carry on with the swagger of Indiana Jones or in a more self-effacing manner? I always imagined myself as a Columbo-like character, always with just one more question to narrow the search for the right answer - you know, like a reference interview. Plus I liked the trenchcoat!

And now, lights, camera and ACTION!

Holiday cookies + cookie day = FUN!

'Tis the season for holiday cookies. And, by happy chance, this Thursday, December 4, is designated by someone as Cookie Day. Seems like a right proper shidduch (match)!

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/cookie-day/

So why not combine the two and have everyone bring in their favorite cookies, holiday and otherwise, and mix and match, exchange recipes, make new friends, award prizes for creative decoration or conspicuous consumption, see if you can put together a synchronized dunking team or two and award applause for their daring and bravado!

It all seems like a nice way to bridge the eating gap between Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc.

World Kindness Day - Thursday, 11/13/14

This coming Thursday is World Kindness Day and the simplest exhortation would be for me to encourage us all to practice a random act of kindness; and I do offer that.

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/kindness-day/

But kindness has a deeper meaning to. When I asked the woman who became my wife what she found attractive about me, she immediately answered that she knew at first meeting that I was a kind person, and that was especially important to her. I am not sure I thought much of kindness before then, but if it was important to Rockman, then it became important to me.

Some years later, she wrote an editorial for Reference Services Review entitled Kindness as a Leadership Virtue (I may have the exact title wrong). Her point was that being kind and being a strong and effective leader are complementary, not contradictory. I think she was right then and is right now.

(See also this Forbes article from last year: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carriekerpen/2013/11/18/kindness-does-not-equate-to-weakness-in-leadership/)

And there endeth my tangent on kindness and leadership.

So on Thursday, please take a moment to smile at someone/everyone, offer a thank you to a colleague, co-worker, etc., let someone go ahead of you in a checkout line, pay the toll for the car behind you - you get the idea. It costs little and offers immeasurable satisfaction.

November 5: Remember, remember, it's stress awareness day

This Wednesday is November 5 and that means:

It is Guy Fawkes Day. "Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason, why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

And it is Stress Awareness Day. (Do you suppose Guy Fawkes felt any stress as he was bringing explosives to Parliament?) In any event, don't just be aware of stress, as in, Gee, I sure am feeling stressed; do something about it. Take a walk, have a run, or swim some laps; practice Tai Chi; knit; bowl; dance; wear a Guy Fawkes mask; tell knock-knock jokes; eat comfort food; put on that silly piece of clothing you've been looking for an excuse to wear.

I plan to put on one of my hats and count how many smiles I get as I run my errands for the day. Of course, if I don't get any smiles, then I will feel stressed and depressed and that's actually my normal state so how will I see the difference!

Work is NOT Supposed to be Fun

Here's an interesting take on work and fun and what the author calls The Flow.

https://www.workreloaded.com/2011/02/work-is-not-supposed-to-be-fun/

The basic idea seems to me that if you are doing work you love, then work can be fun, which is different from having fun at work. I think there is truth in that which begs an important question: Do we love what we do? And if we don't, what choices can we make to change that?

Hoaxes

I am reading a book that features the editor James Bennett, the man behind sending Stanley to find Livingstone and other such promotional and sensational ideas. But one of his most brilliant stunts in the Great Zoo Hoax.

 

http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_central_park_zoo_escape/

 

http://hoaxes.org/text/display/the_central_park_zoo_escape_text/

 

Well, this made quite an ado and led me to think about other great hoaxes, intended or otherwise.

 

One is certainly Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, although how widespread and believed is subject to debate --

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.html

 

Another is Piltdown Man - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/the-scientific-process/piltdown-man-hoax/

 

And some of us lived through the infamous autobiography of Howard Hughes written, in fact, by Clifford Irving - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/liar-liar/

 

So, do you have a favorite hoax? Or one that you'd like to perpetrate assuming it is done in fun - always in fun - and not maliciously?

Sparano v Soprano

The interim head coach for the Oakland Raiders is a former coach of the Miami Dolphins by the name of Tony Sparano. And doesn't that just conjure memories of TV's Tony Soprano. Do you suppose the former channels the latter? And that current players might get whacked or just disappear if they don't play up to snuff? Is there a job here for Paulie Walnuts?

My guess is that the Miami papers had tons of fun with this when Sparano was down there, but that's no reason why we can't enjoy the moment as well.

So, fans of The Sopranos, what advice do you think Tony would give Tony?