Edward Lear - Creator of the Limerick

May 12 is the birthday of the wonderful Edward Lear, creator of the limerick. In his honor, and with all suitable apologies to his skills, I offer the following trifle.

May 12 is the birthday of Edward Lear,

Who deserves a most rousing cheer,

He developed the trick,

That lead to the limerick,

A poetic form that we now hold most dear.

For more on Mr. Lear: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-lear-9376108

I Like Limericks

Limericks seems to be the theme that people who visit here enjoy the most. I refer you to http://humorinlibraries.blogspot.com/2010/10/library-limericks.html for examples.

And here is one from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!

This librarian has a new role. 
The stacks I no longer patrol. 
The patrons all flip as they check out my strip. 
I'm dancing and working the pole.

The connection? "Mayfield Public Library in Scotland is hoping to attract new membership and interest in the library by offering a free pole dancing class this weekend, during an event called "Love Your Library Day.""

Dr. Seuss Day

According to one of my calendars or another, today is Dr. Seuss Day. What a great occasion to read from his works - especially if your place has a childcare facility; or an adult break room for that matter - or to make up some poetry in his inimitable style. Some cousins of mine had great fun adapting Green Eggs and Ham to Green Eggs and Sam, for example. In any event, a little Dr. Seuss goes a long way to relieving the tension of a work day - or any day - so channel your inner Lorax, Cat in the Hat, and other favorite character, and Hop on your Pop to a fun Dr. Seuss Day!

Fear of Friday the 13th and other Phobias

I like that there is a name for the fear of Friday the 13th - triskaidekaphobia. I do not have that phobia. I do suffer from snakephobia and can get  the cold sweats just thinking about snakes of any sort. (And yet I derive a perverse pleasure in watching specials on this or that continent's most venomous snakes!) 

But I digress.

The point here is to see how many common phobias your team and co-workers can identify  and here is a link to help - http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/types-of-phobia.html - and/or if you can create phobias specific to your workplace, e.g., libraryphobia; and/or you can schmooze about things you are afraid of and see if there it is an appropriate phobia (or if you can make one up).

I played this once and the most surprising thing was when someone admitted to a fear of ants and we checked and yes indeed there is a phobia for this:  myrmecophobia!

(There may soon be a phobia that reflects fears of postings from Fred - fredpostophobia!)

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.