I Gotsta Roll!

Hi!

Today, I think, is my last day at Anacostia Interim Library. I am moving over to the Arts/Music Division at the Martin Luther King Library at 9th and G St. NW next Monday. I am very excited about the move because I love music and am an artist-hence the "Pittore", but I will miss my friends here at ANA.

I am hopefully going to start a blog for the division to promote their collections (which is exciting because it has a lot of out of print art books!), programming, events, and exhibitions that I will be undertaking. They already have some content on their DCPL Division site.

It has been a real pleasure and learning experience to be with you. I am not going to disappear completely. I have a studio down at 13th & Good Hope Rd. SE, so you might see me hanging around Younis Deli.

I Feel Like I Ate A Whale

I finally finished Moby Dick! And let me tell you, it is hardly about Ahab and the Leviathan. Only about 200 pages out of 521 are about the three masted whaler, the Pequod. It is full of older American language, detailed sailing jargon, old salts, and beautiful descriptions and musings about the sea.

My copy had a lot of contemporary reviews of the book. I learned that some reviewers at the time hated the structure of the story. There are a great many digressions in the book as I have mentioned. One British writer gave it a pretty scathing review. Melville did call the British Whale Fishery somewhat less robust that the American Whale Fishery.

A Friendly Note About Computing At Your Library

The Library is phasing out floppy and CD Rom compatible computers. All of the replacement, or new computers that we get come without floppy drives and CD Rom drives. This means that you need to come equipped with a USB devise, aka "memory stick", "flash drive", "thumb drive" to save your work.

Take A Bite Out Of Books! But Don't Eat Them.

Hey! Teen Read Week is coming up fast. October 12-18th to be precise.

Read something, then tell me about it here, or here.

If you need suggestions I am full of them. There are also plenty of suggestions here, here, and here.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

Here is a menu of "horror" titles that we have at the library to get you primed for the haunting season. This isn't a definitive list, but it' s a good start.

They are listed in alpha by author. (that's alphabetical to you, mortal)

Abarat, Clive Barker *

Killing Mr. Griffin, Lois Duncan
Gothic: 10 Original Dark Tales
Death Note, Tsugumi Obha
Cirque du Freak, Darren Shan
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley **
The Taste of Night, R.L. Stine
Dracula, Bram Stoker **

* = audio download availability
**= downloadable as audio and ebook!

Reading Recommendation (Poetry)

A book that I have been really excited about is simply called Carver: a life in poems, by Marilyn Nelson. Basically it charts the life of George Washington Carver in gloriously constructed poems. The book is slim but powerful. If you are a fan of Michael Ondaatje's Collected Works of Billy the Kid (one of my all time favorite books), Carver is similar in style and structure.

You may find it in a "Young Adult" area of your library, 811 N428C. That is, unless some intrepid reader has already snatched it. Which they should.

p.s. Don't be put off by the "young adult" classification. It doesn't diminish this book's brilliance.

GET YOU KEYBOARDS A'CLACKIN'!!!

High School Seniors listen up! The Washington Regional Transplant Community is sponsoring an essay contest. First prize is a $5000 Scholarship!
Second Prize is a $3000 Scholarship!

Big Money towards your educations! All it's going to costs you is a 1000 word persuasive essay about organ and tissue donation. That is roughly 2 pages typed. I know you guys type 1600 pages into your MySpace pages every afternoon. So I don't want any excuses.

Follow the above link for details.

Required Reading Is Flippin' AWESOME!

I am reading a little 150 - something year old book right now called Moby Dick. It is pretty amazing because chapters that you really shouldn't be interested in, like the chapter I just finished about rope, are totally engrossing. I also like Ishmael's conclusion that whales are indeed fish, regardless of what others have claimed. Ishmael, the narrator, also goes on and on about the accurate and inaccurate; the good and bad depictions of whales, and whaling in paintings, etchings, engravings, and woodworking. There's a chapter for each of these subjects. Sometimes two.

On a related note the BEEB (BBC) website has a little item about whales, whaling, ecology, and Moby D. I do detect an ecological undercurrent in Moby Dick. Though, it could be because ecology/sustainability is on everyone's mind right now.

I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution of America...

Tomorrow is Constitution Day! You can celebrate with the DC Public Library and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton at 6:30 pm in the Great Hall of the Martin Luther King Library. Details are here.

You might want to sharpen your knowledge of our Nation's Constitution, in which case you may visit the Constitution via Cornell Law. Another option is to call up Barack Obama. He was a professor of Constitutional Law. Just saying.

Another option is the "Charters of Freedom" at the National Archives website, where you may view the Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution, and The Bill of Rights.

Jazzmatazz

Holy Cow! The Real McCoy is going to be performing at the 4th Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival this year! This is really exciting!

Monty Alexander, who I saw perform at the National Gallery of Art a few years ago, is playing along with Christian McBride, Taj Mahal, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. This is, like, an A-List lineup through and through.

For the full (A-List) lineup and some listening visit dejazzfest.

Frederick Douglass Oratorical Contest

This Just In!

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is hosting an oratorical Contest on Saturday, September 20, 2008 from 9am-12pm with an 11 am performance and discussion with Kevin McIlvaine.

Contact the FRDO for details.

Today You Should be Voting

Today is voting day here in DC for something like 9 of 13 council seats! Get out there!

On the national scene, incase you haven't seen it already, there is a letter regarding Sarah Palin written by Anne Kilkenny. Ms. Kilkenny is a censorship fighting librarian from Wasilla, Alaska. The letter surfaced last Friday and is illuminating.

And finally...

There is a mural going up on the side of what used to be "Martin Luther King Jr. Grocery" near the intersection of Howard Rd. and MLK Jr. Ave. I have yet again been caught without my camera, but that's okay... the mural isn't quite finished yet. I'll put a picture up when they finish it. It's shaping up really nicely!

Belated Congratulations Sandwich!

My friend over at Watha T so graciously informed the blogoshpere that the sandwich had a birthday on August 20 th. Its 245 th. In fact August was National Sandwich month. I celebrated with a sandwich of course, but didn't even realize I was celebrating. I was just having lunch.

This date will be forever marked on my calender from now on. August 20, 1762. Don't forget.

A Bug's Strife

You may have missed this last Friday, but the NPR show "Science Friday" broadcast a story about how flies are so good at evading our deadly attacks.

There is even super slo-mo video demonstrating their movements in preparation for, and during flight. It's really pretty gross. In a hypnotic way.

Yesterday in 1920

88 years ago, thanks to the 19th Amendment and the over 50 years of work by such luminaries as Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony, women had finally achieved suffrage.

"On August 26 the Nineteenth Amendment was proclaimed by the secretary of state as being part of the Constitution of the United States. Women in the United States were enfranchised on an equal basis with men."

The text reads as follows:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Online Edition. 27 Aug. 2008

http://library.eb.com/eb/article-9077370

Vote Like You Are On Fire!

Ward 8 City Council election coming up. Stay informed and stay tuned.

First up: Washington Post.

Good Luck in Geometry Junior!

Since school in DC has officially begun, let us review the "rules of the road" regarding truancy and other guidelines for the DC Public Library.

As an added bonus, I'll throw in a link to DC Public Schools for events, calenders, walking routes, athletics, etc.

Hulk Smash!

As promised oh so long ago... 

Here is a drawing I made with some kids that I was trying to encourage to draw. It quickly devolved into the kids watching me draw, and being quite bossy about it too. This is the only one that didn't walk out of the library.

p.s. We are going to be ordering some new music very soon so send in ideas if you have any.

Around The Eastern Branch

Photos of the Savoy Elementary School are at And Now, Anacostia.

AND...

Did you know there are Ward 7 & 8 Council seats up for grabs this September?
You better get involved and get registered.

Internet Friends are Still Real Friends

Our Mothership (MLK Library) has a Myspace page!
Pretty exciting!
What's next I wonder...maybe a blog?