Sense, Nonsense, and Not-Sense

So, these things happened. It's another grab-bag of paragraphs that don't slot in nicely to a normal entry. Most of them are professionally-related, now that I look at them.

Reading Rainbow has returned as an iPad app...with a subscription fee. Which sort of screws up the original messaging, as Levar Burton was always promoting the local public library when he talked about the books. It would have been truer if there was some integration with, say, the Overdrive app or other public library platforms so that soeone could experience the joys of Reading Rainbow, without having to shell out serious cash to read the books that are part of the app. Just saying.

If you're looking for a place to put your stories and finally get toward that publishing thing, there's Acacia Moon Publishing, which aims to build a community that will help people get published good stuff out (and eventually, into libraries). If you're not up for the novel thing, there's a call for short stories to go into anthologies. (You may not make any money on those, but your name could potentially go out to a lot of places.)

A person identifying themselves as a detective from the county Sheriff stopped by the library and requested certain records from a few days ago. In my head, I'm saying "Hell, do we actually keep records that far back?" But to the detective, I put them in contact with the administrative center and the person who handles law enforcement requests. There's also the relevant policy documents on our intranet, which are quite clear - if you want user records, you submit a subpoena or court order in writing, to the administrative center, addressed to the correct person. If you do not follow these procedures, tough shit. I'm very glad we have that policy, and that it's that strict. As the detective was talking to our liason, he made the claim that the Freedom Of Information Act allowed him to access the records without the requisite court order. At the end of the encounter, he wrote down my name. I have no idea whether he will follow through with such a request, but the liason, when they called back, they mentioned that they had not yet heard that particular line of reasoning to bypass the policy. They've been working with the library in that capacity for...decades. Whoo-hoo, novelty?

I was thinking about a lot of the links that I get that talk about the difficulty of being an Other and what people can do to make the world better for them. And then I cast over my own past, and realized that I had made a decision while in university, if not before. It was at that point, I think, that I crossed from being thinky about it to actually doing something about it.

I was invited, along with others, to attend the Lavender Graduation ceremony for a friend. Being a younger person, all of [REDACTED] years of age, I was worried about the kinds of things that someone who really hasn't confronted themselves and thier upbringing on this does. I was in the "I have gay friends, and I'm okay with them, and they're okay with me" phase, but not really turtles all the way down on it. So I was thinking "So, what if people think I'm gay, or someone hits on me, and what are the possible social consequences of this?" (This? Is an Awful Thought, mostly because it indicates that I realize things are bad for Others, and instead of wanting to make things better for Others, I just wanted none of that to come onto me. The things we realize about ourselves with hindisght...)

I thought about that for far longer than I should have, but in the end, I made a decision that I didn't understand until about...a few days ago, when I thought about how I got Here from There. In the end, I concluded that being there to support someone else at their deserved bright time was more important than how I thought people might look at me for being there in support. It was a good decision - I got to hear one of the best descriptions of that friend and their accomplishments at the university, written by a faculty member at that university. I got to cheer long and loud for them and be there, rather than just being a member of the fighting keyboarders.

Nowadays, I know a lot more Others and consider them friends (even if only by Internet and correspondence), and the world of how many Others there are has expanded greatly. Hopefully, when they need support, I'll be there in whatever way I can.

Finally, in the stories, I'm putting this here because it deserves to be here, and if I don't put it down, the next time the self-loathing reappears, this will disappear into the Memory Hole.

I got a dap. From someone who complimented my ability to explain technology in a way that was easy to understand. Who I then proceed to show the right way of getting DVDs from our disc dispensary machines. That got a lot of childlike wonder, and a handshake on top of the dap at the beginning. Which helps immensely to remind me that despite what happened in the past, I am actually quite competent at my job. (There's also all the kids who say "I saw you at my school, and see, I'm signed up for Summer Reading / I got my library card!") It was a really good thing. I needed that reminder. (And so I'm tagging it to remind myself to look at it later.)

Finally, the magic button that makes everything OK. And Boggle, an owl that loves you. Yes, even you, just the way you are. So why not ask for what you need, or see if you can help someone with their needs?

Having managed to actually write down the objects in question, it’s easier to craft an entry around them. The hard part is writing them down.

As 2dlife pointed out to me in discussing the last entry, the prompt isn’t about trying to impress other people with one’s accomplishments. The point is to be impressed with oneself. Which I may not have been clear with with the last entry - that’s why I said the small stuff counts, too - because it’s the things you’re proud of, not what everyone else is proud of you for. (That part will come soon, when we throw wide the doors and solicit the missing bits.)

Onward, then, to number four, which involves the people that I hang around with on regular, semi-regular, and occasional bases.

#4 - I know and am friends with a diverse range of people. This diversity enriches me and makes me a better person every day of my life.

I’m proud of the people that I interact with. I have people who are atheists, monotheists, polytheists, philosophers, preachers, deviants, subversives, the married, the engaged, those who have their eyes on someone, those who have several someones already, people graduated from university, working on it, those who never got there, and those still trying to get through the morass of public education. There are teachers, scientists, crafters, theologians, composers, deejays, authors, Canadians, Americans, English, Ozzies, NZs, Israelis, and more. With such a gigantically diverse group, the points of view and the evidence being brought to bear in their support is phenomenal. It’s no struggle to learn something new every day with this crowd. And usually, by the time it’s all done, it’s more than one thing that’s been added to my knowledge. Just today I got a pretty good lesson on the ins and outs of the sport of cricket (thanks, himi!). Not that I’ll ever likely see it, but now I know. It’ll show up in some trivia game somewhere down the line, like whether or not a field goal attempt can be returned if it stays in the field of play (in American Football).

So, I’m proud of all of you. You can pat yourselves on the back and be proud of who you are.

Here comes number two in this tagged series of entries. 2dlife‘s imposing prompt, “Write five things that you are proud of yourself for, without qualification or comparison” , continues to draw upon my resources to produce answers acceptable to me - which are often the hardest answers to produce. So here’s number 2.

#2: I’ve shaken the hand of one of this era’s finest composers, Mr. John Williams, and played under his direction.

This is my “I’ve met more famous people, and participated in a lot more really cool things in my life than I realize” statement. Going to anime conventions and meeting industry personalities, dub voice actors, some very famous celebrities (the creator of Love Hina and Negima, the character designer for Sailor Moon, Fred Gallagher (and his conscience), along with D.C. Simpson and Caroline Curtis. I’ve been in the same stadium as Patrick Stewart (this happened just last week). I’ve participated in the creation of a vocal student section in one of the women’s sports that was rather quiet (they’re all quiet, really. Even with our nuisance crowd, we’re still really the only noisemakers.) I’ve been on television, (local public TV for quiz bowl type shoes, and national television for the Rose Bowl Parade.) so I have some small part of fame myself. The crown jewel of these famous-people accomplishments, though, are the trips to Pasadena, California, to participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game. The second had Mickey Mouse as the Grand Marshal, which was a bit of a bust. The first trip, however, had the composer of the Star Wars Trilogies, Harry Potter Movies, 1942, Jurrasic Park... the list goes on... John Williams.

We played his arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. We heard rumors that during the rehearsal, he turned away from the USC band and focused his attentions on the MMB. He came very close to the trombone sectional, and said “I like what I’m hearing.” To which everyone in the bone section secretly pumped their fists. Outwardly, we waited until he was out of earshot. Then we all went “Whoooooooa.” We heard first that the television audience was going to hear a prerecorded version of the SSB while we played live in the Rose Bowl. During the rehearsal, however, he said that he was giving serious consideration to having us play it out live.

So, before the MMB goes out to do our pregame, while we’re getting loose, I spot John williams not fifteen feet from me. I’m still not sure about the live-recorded thing, so I do what any confused student would do. I went up to him, shook his hand and asked, “Maestro, are we doing this recorded or live?” He told me, “Live.” And I said, “Excellent.” and went back to my preparations. I also squeed just a tad that I had just shook John Williams’s hand. (EeeeeEEEEeeEEeEEeeeeEEEEEEE!) And then we went out on the field.

I’ve still got the gloves. Those gloves are going into the box that recounts my exploits at college / the marching band. The things you never thought you’d do, you know. So be proud of yourselves - you’ve probably met more famous people than you think. Or you’ve already met someone who’s going to become famous. Or maybe it’s you that’s going to be the famous one, and everyone is going to say “Hey, I knew that guy in high school/college/life!”