Poof

Celestina will be gone on Friday. Good Riddance. Next is Dinah Lytton. I'll just close her account right now, while I'm thinking about it. Maybe I'll close a few accounts. (I'm in a really shitty mood right now, so I'm going to post something terrible and gut-wrenching in another forum. You're welcome to read it, if you're brave enough...and if you can find it.)

The Results are In

A whopping 6 of you voted in my "Kill an Avatar" poll, and you all voted to get rid of Celestina Moonbeam. She was my choice too, actually, so when I leave this post, I'm deleting her account.

And btw: Dinah has not escaped the axe--she will be the next to go, whenever I get around to it.

Goodbye, Celestina. I'm not exaggerating when I say "I hardly knew ye...."

Here that silence? It's the sound of information being dissemeniated to library staff....

To the left you see a notice for an event held at the library where I work, in conjunction with National Poetry Month. Seems like a good enough idea. Except that I, as the person who buys all the literature and poetry books for the Adult collection (and also the High School books), had no idea this program was taking place.

It may sound like I'm nit picking, but this is just another in the trend of my library director, and the library board, taking responsibilities away from Librarians who do the collection development, and giving those duties to a "PR" person, who, in actuality, does very little real PR work. What she does is plan programs, without so much as a heads-up to library staff, who should know what's going on, if only too answer the patrons' questions about what programs are being held.

There was a time when the Librarians were responsible for programming at the library. They were familiar with our patron base, what community members were interested in, etc. As the librarian who buys poetry books for the collection, when I received information from The Academy of American Poets about this year's National Poetry Month, I wondered what kind of program might be well-received by the library's patrons. I thought a contest of some sort for the library's teen patrons might be fun. But upon doing a quick check of the library's website, I found the above nugget of information. I was not told about this event directly. I had to dig around till I found it. Had I been notified, I could have tried to involve the local High School students (yeah, I know, they wouldn't have shown up anyway), or somehow worked with the community to get them involved in library programming.

It's bad enough that Librarians are underpaid, but to not get professional respect from the library director herself...well, it's insult heaped on top of injury. (Perhaps part of the problem is that my particular library director has worked at this library SINCE SHE WAS 16, and SHE HAS NEVER WORKED AT ANY OTHER LIBRARY EVER IN HER LIFE. I find this extremely troublesome: I really believe that in order to be a good librarian, one needs a variety of library experience. Fuck--life experience would add a lot to a person's outlook on the Library's place in the world. But if you've lived in the same town, and worked at the same place your whole life, your world view is myopic. You don't see how other people do things, you don't gain new insights. And this is my director in a nutshell.

You Make the Call!

I've decided to let you (whomever you are) vote on which of my Alts gets the axe next. The contenders are:

Dinah Lytton, who would be 2 years old on March 24th, should she live that long.



and Celestina Moonbeam, who has nothing destinctive about her whatsoever.



Please cast your vote on the poll in the sidebar on the left. I'll leave the poll up till Sunday, March 22nd, at Noon SLT. The winner (the not dead one) will go on to face the next challanger....

And btw: Do you think my girls tend to look like each other? I wonder that, but I'm not objective.

RIP Vikki Planer

Here are two pictures of Vikki, the first one is how she looked her first year in SL; the second one is what she looked like after I gave her a makeover.

Spring Cleaning--It's for Avatars Too!

A lot has been made in my SL about how many avatars I have. I know I have a bunch of them, but each was created for a reason. And now, many of those reasons are moot. Some avatars I just don't ever use. Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not sneaking around SL spying and doing duplicitous things--jeez, who's got the time? Especially if you enjoy the company of menz as much as I do. Ahem.

So, as I have officially been in SL for two years now (my very first avatar's rez day is right around now--she's already gone, btw: Donatella Voom), I figure it's time to clean house. Get them girls outta my SL already!

My "real" first avatar, who is still in existance, is Dinah. She happens to be partnered with my (soon-to-be-ex) husband, but since we have different SLs, I dont' think he'll notice. He doesn't even use the avatar he created to be with me anyway.

My second Avatar was Vikki. She was created after husband found that Dinah had an SL boyfriend. Oops. I was with this lovely British DJ, we were both brand new, blah blah blah. First SLove. Husband freaked when he found out, I "quit" SL, but then wanted to get back into Library work, which was why I was really in SL for (at the time, that is...). So I created Vikki, the librarian. I used Vikki exclusively for library work (mostly...cough) but then I broke off from the SL Library because it was a lot of headaches with very little personal satisfaction.

Third one was Starling. She's really pretty. I don't use her much, but I might, so I keep her on ice. Fourth was Stacks. She wrote a dirty blog. I don't use her much either, but I like her. She is bold and brassy and sexy and empowered in a way that I (the writer) is not. She is the ultimate Sexy Librarian.

Then came Lily. I moved to New Babbage with my SL sister MissVivian Looming to start and run Novem: The Muses Playhouse. While there, we needed some dancers, escorts, etc. so I created a couple more alts, one of which I gave to a friend for testing poseballs, and the other, Celestina, is getting the axe.

There was one I created to hide from a jealous lover, another to work for Lily at Port Novem when the Babbage gig was done (That's AliceWendy...but I can't get rid of her because she has certain rights or property or something that I need. I have to look into it, because I'm not really that crazy about her.)

Then there's the girl I created for the Alt Party. I dont' know if I'm going to bother closing that account or not. I kind of like her look, though.

So, today, I'll be checking inventories for any transferable items, then closing accounts. Join me in wishing all my strays a "Fond Farewell, and don't let the door hit you in the ass."

The Librarian's Burden

A librarian friend of mine once said, "Sometimes theft is a librarian's best friend." We had been talking about "The Anarchist's Cookbook," and how libraries justify/deal with having it in their collections. She said that it invariably gets stolen, so the problem is moot. Other books that fall under a similar category are Madonna's Sex book, a while back; The Turner Diaries; books by science fiction writers cum religious nut; etc. Some books you order because you have to (i.e., a patron has requested you purchase it), and then there are other books that you want to order, but perhaps shouldn't. (And I don't know if there is a book that should never be added to a library's collection, ever. Any thoughts on this?)

Librarians are all about FREE ACCESS TO INFORMATION. We hold dear the concepts that censorship is bad, banning books is bad, and that the refusal of information or materials to patrons, based on subject matter, is bad. (The question of age of the patron is a little sketchier, so let's agree that I'm talking about adults here.)

I'm sure almost every collection development librarian has struggled at one time or another about adding a certain item to the collection. I buy the 700s, which includes Art, and comics/graphic novels. I had read a review of Lost Girls, by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie. From the reviews I read, it appeared to be a straight forward collection with stories that seemed to explore what erotic situations three famous literary characters (Alice, of Wonderland; Dorothy, of Oz, and Wendy, of Neverland) might encounter if they grew up a few more years. Publisher's Weekly gave Lost Girls a very good review, as did Booklist, the trade journal published by the American Library Association. I was intrigued by the idea of the book, and knew it would be erotic, but figured, "so what?" I ordered this three-volume set for my library's collection.

When Lost Girls arrived from the distributor, I got a call from the person in Technical Services who checks in the book orders. She asked if I knew how graphic the book was. Um...no. So she gave me the books, I opened one of them at random, and there was a teenage girl who was naked, riding the cock of some beastly man. I felt myself turn bright red. (I'm not a prude, but looking at graphic depictions of sex in front of a co-worker...well...it made me uncomfortable.) The book is filled with page after page of fucking, oral sex, masturbation, hand jobs, etc. Ok, I don't remember if there are hand jobs in there, but i'm sure there are. Take a look at the Amazon listing for a peek at some of the graphics. The books are actually quite beautiful. But...I really didn't want to go to the mat for this particular title. I knew there'd be an uproar, should the "wrong" person get hold of the book. And if I had to defend a title, I wanted it to be something that I felt was Important, with a capital I. So I made the decision to send the book back.

Last week I ordered a book that may be the one I have to fight for. I was looking through Booklist's list of Best Graphic Novels, and saw Daddy's Girl, by Debbie Drechsler. Originally published in 1995, it's been reprinted recently. I've only read the first story so far, but it is powerful and disturbing and sad. Daddy's Girl tells the story of the author's sexual abuse by her father, told from her point of view as an adolescent. Aside from the difficult subject matter, there is a graphic depiction of Lily in bed, being visited by her father, while her sister feigns sleep in the next bed.

I wondered whether a comic book about incest would draw outrage from the processors in the library's Technical Services department (trust me--you don't want to piss these people off, if you want your books to see the library shelves), or from the public, or from anyone at all. I gave the head of Tech Services a heads-up, lest his staff question my purchase. He said he didn't see any problem, and I trust his judgment. So, now it's wait and see. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Sunshine and Rainbows...or as much positivity as I can muster....

NOTE: I have deleted the post previous to this one, because, frankly, it was just a wee bit too much. But don't worry--you ain't missing anything.

I was up till 4am last night, in a vicodin haze, writing the post previous to this one. I'm going to see if I can bring myself up a bit.

Well...I got paid today. That was good. Let's see...there was an Inservice at work today, but as it was not mandatory, I chose not to attend. (I know that decision may bite me in the ass, but I honestly don't care.) The weather's nice--so that's good too. It's cool, but sunny. As long as there's sun, I can deal with the temperature. Oh, and I see my shrink today, so lots of chance for positivity today. The bad news is that I can't get into SL today...but maybe that's actually good news. Whatever it is...that's actually the current extent of tangible "bad" in my life today.

I made it through last night's episode unscathed, except, maybe, for the fact that people's opinions about me may have been confirmed by reading that last post. But they feel how they feel. there's nothing I can do but be true to myself and write what's in my heart.

My personal Muse has been a great help to me lately. She's Muse and Ass-Kicker all in one. She is Yang to my Yin (or vice versa). When I'm sad, she is supportive. When she's in a bad place, I comfort her. We seem to not be down at the same time, which is interesting. Our personality styles are very different, too. I know there's a perfect place on the line between how I interact with people (bold, direct, hardass), and how she does (indirectly, sort of vague, and gentle). But when the two of us are together, brainstorming a project, it's magical. We think the same way, make the same points, and yet we challenge each other to come up with new ideas. It's very exciting.

So...since I still can't get into SL (yes, I've been trying every three minutes while writing this post), I may...dare I say it...see if I can refrain from logging in today? Probably not, but, I will consider it. Oh, and a quick side note to the fine folks at LL: YOUR BEST EFFORTS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH. feh.

But to leave on a positive note, here's a link to a couple pictures of Lily playing mermaid. Enjoy!

And Now the Good News

I am now free to roam about the grid! :)

Ok, First the Bad News

"On March 9, 2009, you made angry comments to the Director when informed the Library may have to discontinue purchases of Mini Moos for staff."


Or, as rendered in free verse by Miss Eve Ayres:


how dare you
waster of moos
COW cream waster
dairy delinquent
non dairy novice
ruiner of the city
destroyer of all that is holy...how fucking dare you
take them all home

My Port in the Storm

My safe haven. My secret hideout. That's what this blog is for me. I just went through the emotionally difficult task of closing an endeavor that I've worked on for over a year. It was time, but it was still hard. In putting that behind me, I hope to be more productive, to write more, and to be more creative in general. More focused, too, maybe? Well, let's not get overly optimistic. Welcome to my little corner of the world. If you have manners and show kindness, you may stay. But you others (and you know who you are), fuck off. That said, welcome, and enjoy your time here.