Using my brain at the Library

Just yesterday I was talking to my boss about how I wasn't terribly inspired or challenged with my position at the Library. Today things got a lot better.

Today is the first of three cataloging workshops. Although cataloging can get a little tedious, I've always liked it because of the precision and attention to detail required. This workshop is excellent, because it further enhances these aspects. So far we've done a basic overview of the MARC system (Machine Readable Cataloging (ie: standard, computerized records of all the items in the library)), focusing on terminology, and starting to get into the "why this or that aspect of a record is important."

My brain is awake, and enjoying the stimulation of being made to think.

Gay marriage

I have never been against gay marriage, but it is only recently that I really found my place in the current political debate raging in the United States and Canada.

I don't think the government should be allowed to tell anyone who they can or can't marry. Doing so is like the caste segregation or inter-racial taboos that our culture has already decided are unethical. Everyone should be allowed to decide who they want to marry, regardless of the person's sex.

Therefore, the only thing governments should do is legalize same-sex marriage. If it is not legal, people don't have the freedom of choice that they deserve.

Kingdom of Heaven

The thing that sets Kingdom of Heaven apart from many other movies is that it successfully holds a number of different viewpoints at once. Kingdom of Heaven is set during one of the Crusades, and focuses on the military conquest and defense of the city of Jerusalem. But there are no "good guys" and "bad guys," nor is the war simply good or bad. At various times throughout the movie, war and violence are: a method of survival, a missionary effort, a way to protect innocents, a birthright, and a way to hold on to one's beliefs. This variety creates a thought-provoking richness to the movie, making it more than just another grand showcase of special-effects (though it is also that).

There are many excellent performances in this movie, including by Liam Neeson, as the main character's guide and father, and by Ghassan Massoud, as the Muslim general. Actor Orlando Bloom, a veteran of numerous big-budget war movies, does a superb job of portraying the main character Balian, a black-smith turned general. This character, a young man thrust into war with no experience, has a different way of looking at the conflict. For those who don't like war, this character is the key to enjoying this movie.

Hauling

Lugging my new TV up the stairs. If was a lot of work. I like the TV though. It's widescreen :-)

Welcome to my new blog!

Here you will find quality posts pondering a variety of topics and giving occasional updates on my life.

Make me feel good by leaving specific comments on my posts, or with general comments on the chatterbox.

Although I have most of your birthdays in my palm pilot, feel free to enter your info on the green Birthday reminder box. Your name and birthday will be displayed on my blog, so if you don't want that, let me know, and don't sign up.

I will have some new pictures soon. I'm aiming for a balance of text and pictures.

In case you missed them, or I accidentally deleted your comments, I've transferred some of my more recent posts to this blog.

Enjoy!

Oscar winners and nominees I want to see

I watched the Academy Awards/Oscars on Sunday and Monday evening, and I now have a good short list of movies to put into my Netflix queue.

It was no surprise that Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, King Kong, and The Chronicles of Narnia won awards. These will now move from my "maybe" list to my "definitely want to see" list. Already on that list are non-winning nominees Corpse Bride and A History of Violence.

The big upset for the night was that the heavily nominated Brokeback Mountain did not win Best Picture. That honor went to the very deserving Crash, which also won for Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. Crash was one of the only winners (or nominees, for that matter) that I have already seen, and I am glad it got the recognition it did.

Canadian-American

Yesterday I read an article in Newsweek article in Newsweek about a woman's experience being Indian-American. After reading it, I realized: I'm Canadian-American!

That sounds really weird; I don't think I've ever heard that phrase before. A brief Google search shows me that "Canadian-American" is more often used in the context of Canadian/American political relations, as opposed to "Indian-American", which generally refers to Americans of Indian origin.

Used in the latter sense, "Canadian-American" does a good job of describing my experience in the United States.
-I am an immigrant. Technically, a "Legal Alien" (speaking of weird-sounding phrases!)
-I have an accent. Not much of one, anymore, but every once in a while I discover that it's still there.
-I cheer for my home country in the Olympics.
-Although I've never actually done either, I love hockey and dogsledding.
-I have gone curling (interesting, but not that great), and I like to play crokinole--both apparently very Canadian games.
-I never seem to quite fit into society around me.

Less tangibly, the longer I live in the US, the more I discover that my deepest cultural, political and religious beliefs are more Canadian than American. (Some of this may be coincidence, as many Americans I hang around share many of these beliefs, but I think they are significant anyways.)
-I believe that the government should help its people, not wage war on other countries.
-I believe that education should get more funding than the military.
-Universal healthcare!!!!!!! 'Nuff said.
-I think the government should not try to be religious.
-I find myself to be more secular than the average American.
-I believe that immigrants should be welcomed, not shot at, and that customs officials should not be armed.
-I believe that people should not carry guns around with them, or keep them under their pillows.
-I believe that rich countries should help poor ones, not exploit them.
-Even the fact that I want to claim a minority status is result of my Canadian experience, because in Canada, minorities are treated carefully and considerately (no one wants to be accused of prejudice).

I've never been a huge fan of labels, but the concept of Canadian-American appeals to me because it provides a framework in which it's okay that I don't fit in. If I'm "something-American", I should expect to be misunderstood sometimes, and not freak out about it. I should expect that people won't always agree with me, because they are part of a different culture.

So here I am, proudly Canadian-American!

Hosts and guests

A few weeks ago, when I had a Superbowl party, I was upset at how few people actually replied to my email invitation. I knew, logically, that many of them were simply assuming they were going to come; some I asked, in casual conversation, and they were like, "Oh yeah, we're coming," but many people never said a word about whether they were coming or not.

A few weeks later, Ryan sent out a similar email invitation, inviting many of the same people to his house for a party to watch the movie RENT. A few days went by without me responding to his invitation, and Ryan mentioned my lack of response. I reminded him that he hadn't yet responded to my invitation, and we agreed that we should both reply.

My party turned out fine. At some point I realized that we couldn't fit any more people in our house anyways, so I stopped worrying about the people who hadn't replied.

Today was Ryan's party, and 20 minutes after it should have started, I was one of the only ones out of 10 or 15 people who were supposed to be coming. Ryan was getting a little anxious/annoyed, and I knew exactly how he felt. Were people going to come or not? Was all this work we did preparing stuff going to be wasted?

Eventually, many people came, (though not as many as expected), and we had a lot of fun, but was all the stress beforehand necessary?

Were Ryan and I respectively too worried about people's lack of response, or were people rude in not replying or coming on time?

I've been a guest and a host, and my answer is this: the hosts are right; as guests, we need to have the courtesy to tell our hosts if and when we are coming, and then stick to that agreement.