This week I went on my first camping getaway of the year when I visited Wyalusing State Park, near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Wyalusing is located on the bluffs overlooking the spot where the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers come together.
All posts by Jonathan
How can he say that with a straight face?
Flipping through the Sunday morning talk shows today, I hit upon G. Gordon Liddy criticizing Mark Felt, recently announced as Deep Throat, for his “unethical actions.”
So, here is the man who actually performed the act of political espionage, breaking into the democratic party headquarters, spewing on about unethical behavior in others? Am I the only one who finds this totally absurd?
In the news recently, the Downing Street Memo has finally come to light. How three years ago, the Bush Administration had decided to “fix the intelligence” to support its policy of invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussain from power. Would that we had someone with the courage of Mark Felt’s convictions, three years ago.
Radio Paradise
I recently had the best musical discovery of the year. I realize 2005 is not even half over, but after listening to this discovery over the past week or two I have no doubt it will be my best of the year. No, it isn’t a new band, or a new CD. It’s Radio Paradise, an internet-based radio station.
Commercial free, Radio Paradise is completely listener supported and, in this listener’s humble opinion, very worthy of any support you can give it.
An open letter to the scam artist who called the library today
Dear Madam,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the library’s copier. I am sorry I was not able to provide you with the copier’s model number, however I am familiar with your techniques which result in unsuspecting victims being sent unwanted, outrageously priced copy supplies they had never ordered.
San Francisco travelog
Yesterday I returned from a trip to San Francisco, where I attended a users group conference for the catalog software my library uses. I was able to take some free time in between the conference programs to see some of the sights.
Tidbits from a librarians conference
The following are a few things I learned today, while at the conference of the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians at the Monona Terrace convention center.
Current tuition for students of the University of Wisconsin School of Library and Information Studies is $14,688 for the academic year. Back when I was a graduate student in library school (1986-1988), I believe tuition for the year was about $2,400. And you thought gas prices have been increasing too fast.
Odd Wisconsin is one of the more popular sections on the Wisconsin Historical Society’s web site. Which by the way has some wonderful resources in addition to Odd Wisconsin.
On their migration north, common loons stop in Lake Monona. During a break at the conference, while looking out one of the windows facing the lake, I spotted a loon fishing for a meal.
When I’m watching a loon in the middle of April, I get eager for summer camping in northern Wisconsin.
Procrastination nation
In past years I couldn’t believe how many people waited until the last minute to do their taxes. Invariably, every year on the evening news of April 15th (tax deadline here in the U.S.), the big story would be the lines of people at the post office, mailing their tax returns at the last minute. When I worked at the public library I was amazed by the number of people we would get the last few days before tax day, frantically searching for the tax forms they needed.
Steve Earle at the Barrymore
Last night I went to my first concert since I moved to Madison and caught Steve Earle‘s show at the Barrymore Theatre.
Musically, Steve and his backing band (the Dukes) rocked the house, concentrating on songs from his two most recent discs, “The Revolution Starts Now” and “Jerusalem.” He didn’t ignore his back catalog though, playing excellent versions of older tunes like “Guitar Town,” “Copperhead Road” and “Goodbye.”
Winter beauty
Even though Spring is just days away, we’re still getting snow in Wisconsin. I woke up this morning to see everything wearing a beautiful coat of snow. Here’s a picture I took at work today of the snow covered woods behind the library. As proof that beauty is fleeting, the trees were bare again in just a few hours.
At the college reference desk
It’s been over three months that I’ve been working at the Edgewood College Library. My shifts at the reference desk there (usually a few hours a day) certainly have been a different experience compared to staffing the reference desk at a public library.