redbird | Entries tagged with library

Since my last reading post:

Nobody Cares, by H. J. Breedlove. This one is good, but dark: it's dedicated this to Black Lives Matter, and fairly early on I got to the first mention of Missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It's also book 3 in the Talkeetna series, with further developments in the friendship-turning-romance of Dace and Paul.

The Disappearing Spoon, by Dan Kean: a history of the periodic table, with a bit about each of the currently-known elements and the people, or groups of people who discovered them. Someone recommended this after I mentioned liking Consider the Fork, but the two books have almost nothing in common.

The Electricity of Every Living Thing, by Katherine May: a memoir, about walking and what happens after the writer hears a radio program about Asperger's and thinks "but that's me." (I don't remember where I saw this recommended

Return to Gone-Away, by Elizabeth Enright: read-aloud, and a reread of a book I read years ago. Sweet, a family's low-key adventures in an obscure corner of upstate New York. As the title implies, this is a sequel; read Gone-Away Lake first.

Beautiful Yetta, the Yiddish Chicken, by Daniel Pinkwater, a short picture book that we read aloud after Adrian and I realized Cattitude hadn't read it before. Conversation in three languages, with translations (and transliterations) for the Yiddish and Spanish. Not Pinkwater's best, but fun.

Thimble Summer, by Elizabeth Enright, because I enjoyed rereading the Gone-Away Lake books. Several months of a girl's life with her family on a farm. The plot and adventures are relatively low-key. I liked it, and am glad I got it from the library.

Also, it looks as though I didn't post about the summer reading thing here. It started June 1, and the bingo card has a mix of kinds of books, like books in translation, published this year, or with an indigenous author; some squares with things like "read outside" and "recommend a book"; and some that go further afield, like "learn a word in a new language" and "try a new recipe." Plus the ever-popular "book with a green cover." (OK, last year it was "book with a red cover.") I do a lot of my reading on a black-and-white kindle, so I don't know what color the covers might be. Therefore, I walked into a library yesterday, looked at their summer reading suggestions, and grabbed a book with a green cover.

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I got email this morning telling me I needed to renew my Minuteman library card, and could do so online. I just did this, and it took about two minutes. It would have been faster if I hadn't needed to update my mailing address, and change my default pickup location for physical books. I also had to certify that I live in Massachusetts--not specifically in a city or town that's part of the Minuteman network. The card is now valid until 2030.

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library

I just created a New York Public Library e-card, mostly to see if I could, because of a discussion on Discord of getting an NYPL card if you don't live in the city. This makes five library cards: Boston and Minuteman, plus King County and Seattle from when I lived in Washington. I'm using King County the most, because they have a very good ebook collection.

The NYPL e-card is available to anyone who lives in the United States and checks a box for "visiting New York City." I have a library card number, a username (of my choosing) and password, and a printout with all this information. They promised a confirming email, and I very much doubt that they're going to check that I live at this address in Belmont, rather than in New Haven, Seattle, or Toronto.

NYPL uses an ebook format/reader I hadn't heard of, and will need to download to my phone.

ETA: The virtual card expires in 14 days if I don't go to a branch in person to validate it. Which I suppose fits in with me saying I was "visiting NYC." If I remember correctly from yesterday, the visitor card is only three months anyhow.

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I spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights with

adrian_turtle: we had a good time, and were definitely more relaxed now than when we saw each other for the first time in three months.

We're not back to "normal," of course, though Massachusetts plans to move to phase 3 of reopening next week. But I'm feeling a bit steadier, from having back bits of ordinary life like Adrian reading another episode of Tremontaine, or asking me to please deal with lunch.

The Robbins Library emailed this morning inviting me to schedule a time for contactless pickup of a book I have on hold. I'd hoped to do that on my way home, but the earliest time they were offering was on the morning of June 6th. (That's the Arlington Library, and is more convenient for me than the Belmont one.) When I do get it, this will be my first hardcopy library book in months. (Fortunately, the King County Library System has a lot of ebooks, and hasn't yet noticed that I no longer live in Washington.)

I took the bus home anyhow, and stopped on the way to shop at a pleasantly uncrowded drugstore for things that they won't let me order for delivery. I now have razor blades and two bottles of hand sanitizer, a little one for my backpack and a middle-sized one to keep by the door. Also lip balm, which isn't expensive enough to qualify for free shipping by itself.

JP Licks informs me that the July flavors of the month include cucumber, so I intend to buy some after I see my doctor next week.

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My library card arrived yesterday, and this morning I walked over and activated it. I borrowed four books, put two more on hold, and used the printer to get a W-9 form to send one of my freelance clients (our own printer is in transit, and probably won't be one of the first things we want to deal with when unpacking).

It seems like a nice library; it's handier to the temporary housing than to the place we will actually be living, but it looks as though I can get there conveniently on the 550 bus, if I am carrying a lot of books or just don't feel like walking that far.

I feel significantly more settled, because of both having some actual books in this apartment—I am not yet in the habit of using the kindle at home, and aside from that, it doesn't look like a book when I glance around the living room&mash;and because of the library card on my key chain. (I took the NYPL off a couple of days after we got here.)

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library,
moving

The New York Public Library has computerized book (and music, and video) checkout and return.

I hadn't realized until I looked at the slip on the CD I borrowed a few days ago what a useful thing they're doing. It doesn't just tell me that this item is due on thus-and-such date. It lists everything I currently have out with the due dates. This is particularly useful because I'd forgotten that I have a book due on the 29th. Returning it on time will be trivial, now that I've been reminded.

(The system also knows that I owe them 50¢, and the next time I go there, with any luck there will be a functioning cash register and we can clear this up. But the book in question is not listed as still checked out, so that's okay.)

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library,
software

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library,
software

Going to the library is good for me. Being brought an assortment of interesting books, old and new, and paging through them, is satisfying on a level that goes deeper than what I learn, or don't. (Sometimes the nice librarians bring me something, and I discover that it doesn't actually contain what I need.)

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books,
library

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books,
library

How did this happen? I spent a chunk of time at the library--the main research library on Fifth Avenue, with the lions outside and the gorgeous reading room--then got some lunch, ordered new eyeglasses, and went to the gym. I went to the gym thinking that I should probably go back to the library, but I'd rather be lifting weights.

Given the shape of the current research project, not going back to the library was a reasonable choice--in fact, I might have been wasting my time there. But how did bookish me turn into someone who would rather lift weights than be at the library? A chunk of the answer is, of course, that it's paid research, rather than a question or project that caught my interest on its own. Another chunk is that I was working with an annoyingly designed database interface, not with actual printed books or magazines.

The new glasses are significantly smaller than the current pair: the current pair are large and heavy enough to rub against and irritate my cheeks, so smaller is not merely a fashion choice. The frames go well with my coloring, in an unobtrusive way. After much discussion with the optician, I'm not getting prescription sunglasses, but am getting what they call "transitional," which I used to call "photogray"--the kind that go dark in sunlight, and then lighten again indoors. She assures me that the current version of these do lighten all the way to clear. I'm not entirely convinced--but with a 30-day unconditional guarantee if I don't like them, I'll try it, because swapping glasses repeatedly is a nuisance. I won't have the new glasses for at least a week, more likely two, but I can wait. I also bought some lens-cleaning cloths, the kind that are individually wrapped and pre-moistened with an appropriate cleaning solution, suitable for use when I don't have running water handy.

The library now requires an "Access card" for researchers. To get one, you fill out a form (either in advance online, or at the library), then show them photo ID, get your picture taken, and a couple of minutes later have a card with photo and bar code. [Without a photo ID, they'll give you a three-day temporary card, but only once.]

( more gym details, including thinking about numbers )

Current Mood: content

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Current Mood: content

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As I've mentioned, I'm doing some freelance research.

At the moment, it involves looking things up in magazines published over the last year. For the most part, that means going to a friendly librarian, and saying "May I have thus-and-such magazine back to last September?" The friendly librarian then hands me a large stack, with the most recent issue on top.

The simplest thing to do is go through them in the order I get them.

This has some weird effects. Not for the stuff I'm looking for, especially. But being dropped back into things that were national press obsessions at some point in the last year, then vanished--and getting the endpoint first. Like the whole Andrea Yates thing, but starting with the post-trial discussions. There's also going back in time (or Newsweek) and finding a few post-September 11 articles in this issue, and then lots of stuff about Giuliani, and then suddenly having all those photos staring at me again. And then picking up the magazine below that in the stack, and it's from Before, a stark difference.

But the work is getting done--the current piece is done--and in the meantime I have become quite fond of both Jefferson Market library (a branch in Greenwich Village) and Room 108 of the library with the lions. Both are comfortable, and the staff are more helpful than in the room with the periodical collection at Mid-Manhattan. Jefferson Market, oddly, has stuff that Mid-Manhattan doesn't (although MM is a larger library), and will give me things in hardcopy that Room 108 only offers on microfilm.

Current Mood: hot

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Current Mood: hot

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( boring gym stuff )

Lunch at Tea Den, which was seeming overwhelmed. I overheard two different tables of people complaining about how long things were taking--this is mostly middle-of-work-day lunches, so time does matter--and I shouldn't have to ask three times for a pot of tea at a place called Tea Den. The wonton soup was fine, as usual, and so was the shrimp in black bean sauce--and I'm not on a clock, though I do bill by the hour.

So, after lunch, off to the periodicals room of the New York Public Library, the nice big one with the lions, for the rest of the afternoon. It's a cool, calm, pleasant place, with a helpful staff, enough chairs and tables, and a helpful staff. And two brochures, one listing available services and the other describing all the murals on the walls. That's Room 108, and I recommend it highly for all your recent periodical needs--if they have what you want, it's a much nicer place to work than the equivalent section at the Mid-Manhattan Library. And they have things Mid-Manhattan doesn't, which is how I wound up there (though the reverse may also be true).

The library closes at 6, so when I reached a good stopping point at 5:45, I decided to call it an afternoon. Stopped in Bryant Park for a couple of minutes, just because, then went down to the Village for coffee (beans, not a cup to drink then). Since they were handy, I got some plums, too.

Thence to a "meet-up" of some NYC webloggers. It was poorly organized--the alleged host of the event hadn't shown up by the time I left, at 9 (for an event that was supposed to start at 7, with a confirmation email urging us to be prompt). But several of us found each other, and sat around with assorted beverages and random conversation, some of it even about our Weblogs. Odd--I'm not used to being asked what I do for a living as a conversation-starter, because fans mostly don't start with that, neighbors tend to want to discuss the park, and coworkers already know. It was fun, but I don't think I'll be going out of my way to email any of these folks; maybe I should look at their blogs before deciding for certain. The location was just weird: part cafe, part bar, and part dating service, but the couches were comfortable, and the waiter was efficient but not pushy.

(Having written all that up, I'm not surprised that I've done almost nothing today except go to the drugstore.)

Current Mood: waiting for the rain

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Current Mood: waiting for the rain

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Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Don't mourn, organize

semi-recent reading

library card

another library card

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Library

Software we like

Software we like

The comfort of good books, and good rooms

The comfort of good books, and good rooms

Library, gym, et cetera

Library, gym, et cetera

Odd aspects of the current job

Odd aspects of the current job

busy day: (gym), tea den, library, shopping, weblog meet-up

busy day: (gym), tea den, library, shopping, weblog meet-up

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