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As always, the new issue is released on the second day of the month.  Be there, or be square!

Welcome to the maiden voyage of Bibliomancy!  I have been kindly invited to write this column for your reading pleasure.  Each month I will be sharing my thoughts on books, reading, and life from a Librarian's perspective.  I'm not sure where this journey will lead us, but I have no doubt we'll enjoy our travels together through the literary landscape.

Of course, you'll want to know a little bit about me.  Who, you ask, is this Librarianguish person?  What does she know about books?  And why should I spend my valuable time reading this column?  Let me begin…

First and foremost – I am not suffering from anguish of any sort whatsoever.  Zip. Zilch.  Nada.  I am, in fact, a rather happy soul.  The name Librarianguish is something I just made up, due to a propensity for manipulating my real name, Anne.  It started innocently – Anne-onymous, Anne-thrax, Anne-guish – you get the idea.  Then, when I began working at a library a few years ago, Librarianne was a natural choice.  Clever, aren't I?  A year ago, I started blogging and felt compelled to find an even cleverer name.  Thus, Librarianguish was born.  I suppose I could come up with a definition and give it some legitimacy.

Librarianguish – the distressed feeling one gets upon the realization that it is not humanly possible to read all books ever published, let alone merely the books in your local library; literary overload.

Hey, not too shabby!  Okay, maybe I do suffer just a little bit of this type of anguish.

I suppose I have reasonable credentials for writing a column of a literary bent.  I'm relatively well educated, with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS).  It used to be that when you finished studying to be a Librarian you got an MLS, but now they give you four letters.  I would hope so, considering how much it costs!  However, that is neither here nor there.  I also have extensive experience with books.  Each day at the library, I handle hundreds of books.  I have seen and touched more books than some people can even comprehend existing – even those covered with sticky jam or cat urine.  Books, not people, though it works both ways, doesn't it?  I have also read hundreds of books in my lifetime, and started countless others.  Several years ago I worked in a small bookstore, and have spent many hours wondering how I might be paid to read books.  No luck so far, but I still hold out hope.  Writing this column for Subter.com is definitely a close second, and I look forward to flexing my reading and writing muscles in preparation for the big bucks.

I am a proud member of the book-obsessed fringe of society.

There is of course the question of you spending your valuable time reading my column.  My hopes are that you will enjoy the observations I make about the literary life, and find some new directions for your own reading from the recommendations I make.  Each month I might cover a particular genre of literature, discuss an author or two, or rave about the merits of your local public library.  I will make no apologies and be up front to you – as a Librarian, I have a strong bias towards the good old brick and mortar institution.  My list of column ideas is growing already, and the one thing I can promise you is this journey won't be monotonous!  Without further ado, I'll take my first steps…

Habitual Reading

It is very likely that no two people share quite the same reading habits.  We each like different types of books, in different quantities, and have different reading "styles."  I thought it might be fun to define a number of sub-populations within the bibliophile universe.  Perhaps you'll recognize yourself in one of the following categories.

Serial Readers

Can you imagine choosing one book and reading it from cover to cover before selecting another?  I can't, but I suppose there may be people out there that read this way.  These serial readers live extremely orderly lives.  Their homes are impeccably spotless, they eat perfectly healthy meals and wear neatly pressed clothing of a nondescript style.  They may be prone to reading the entire works of one author, in order of publication, before moving on to the next.

Genreflecters

The Genreflecter is actually a large group of readers that can be subdivided into several categories.  He or she reads every book within a specific genre, and depending on the selected genre, this could consume their entire lifetime!  Following is a smattering of specific subgroups to help you get a feel for this diverse group.

• Manga Maniac – New on the Genreflecting landscape, the Manga Maniac is generally in their teens or early twenties.  Males and females are equally prone to this habit.  When not reading manga, the Maniac spends his or her time learning to draw this complex art form.  Proof of this is the sheer number of How to Draw Manga books available to the artistically hopeful.
• Lonely Hearts Club – Romance writers rejoice!  Legions of lovelorn women are consuming romance novels faster than chocolate covered cherries!  Have they noticed the same cover model disguised as a Viking, a cowboy, an Indian, and a Scottish highlander?  As long as love conquers all and has no hair on his oiled muscle-bound chest, what does it matter?
• Heebie Jeebie Junkie – There are, in this world, people that read nothing but true crime books.  Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and their ilk are nightly companions to this group as they drift off to sleep.  Or do they?  One might think a continuous dose of the evils of humanity would have these folks sitting in a dark corner sucking their thumb and weeping.  But no, they eagerly await the next Ann Rule book with a smile on their face.

The Specialist

Specialists are those who read as much as possible on a particular subject.  They may be war buffs, regional experts, conspiracy theorists, or experts on fantastical creatures.  Specialists will read both fiction and non-fiction, and have the uncanny skill of finding every book with even a passing mention of their topic.  The latest breed of Specialists are the "Codeites" – those that study the controversies surrounding The Da Vinci Code.  Codeites are not to be confused with people that have been studying Templar history for years, long before it was trendy.

Bibliofiend

Bibliofiends are hopelessly, utterly, addicted to books.  They spend hours in libraries and bookstores, as being in the mere presence of books makes them feel more secure.  A Bibliofiend's home is full of books, both purchased and borrowed; many never read.  Their bookcases are overflowing into stacks of books on the floor.  Bibliofiends usually read several books at once, and leave many unfinished as they keep finding more "really interesting books."  The Bibliofiend is often employed somewhere in the book industry, even if it means they must have several part time jobs.  In the most extreme cases, Bibliofiends devise elaborate shelving and cataloging schemes for their personal collections, or may keep detailed records of every book they've read.  Or at least started.

I bet you can't guess to which group I belong!

Recommended Reading

Each month I'll be leaving you with a list of books I think you might enjoy.  This month I'm focusing on books that don't require reading from beginning to end.  In other words, you can open these books to any page and find some interesting tidbits of information.  Keep a few of these books on hand and you'll soon be able to converse intelligently on diverse topics, increase your vocabulary, and beat the pants off everyone in Trivial Pursuit!

The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures, 1,001 Things You Hate to Love, by Sam Stall, Lou Harry, and Julia Spalding (2004)

Pop culture from ABBA to Zima!  This gem contains entries on scads of fads, movie stars, edible delights, and much more.  You'll have a hard time putting this one down!  Includes cross references and a regional index.

The Rough Guide to Cult Movies, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Weird Indeed, Rough Guide Books (2001)

Is cinema what turns your crank?  Here you can find more information about cult movies than you ever knew you wanted to know.  Share your knowledge of such silver screen classics as You Natzy Spy! (1940), Zoltan, Hound of Dracula (1978), and The Million Eyes of Dr. Sumuru (1967), and you just might be able to get a date with that cute video store clerk.

The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock, by Ira A. Robbins (1997)

I'm not exactly sure how a book published in 1997 can claim to be a guide to the '90s.  No matter, much of the information predates 1990, so it's really like getting a bonus.  Peruse the 846 pages of entries and you're sure to learn something about your favorite artists both well known and obscure.  Maybe you'll finally be able to get a date with that cute record store clerk!  Just don't tell the video store clerk.

There's a Word for It! A Grandiloquent Guide to Life, By Charles Harrington Elster (1996)

Are you guilty of cloffining, pandiculation, or snoaching?  Do you love words?  Then this is the book for you.  Confuse your friends and enemies alike with an expansive vocabulary full of words like zoanthropy, keech, and blatherskite.  One of my all time favorite books.  Here are the definitions of the words I just used, in order:

Sitting idly by a fire

Stretching and yawning upon waking up or before going to bed

Speaking through the nose

The delusion one is an animal

A large lump of fat

An obnoxious, loudmouthed braggart

Window Seat, Reading the Landscape from the Air, by Gregory Dicum (2004)

Perhaps you'd like to impress your seatmates on that next cross-country flight as you point out nifty natural and man-made features below.  This full color book will aid in the identification of glaciers, farmlands, forests, and cities as you fly the friendly skies.

The Gallery of Regrettable Food, by James Lileks (2001)

Retro Food Fiascos, a Collection of Curious Concoctions, by Kathy Casey (2004)

Scream in terror as you view these collections of food from the past.  Turn the page if you dare to see if it could possibly get any worse.  It does!  Lileks infuses his book with sharp-witted narrative; if you can't wait to get your hands on the book, you can whet your appetitite at the Gallery of Regrettable Food website.  Casey provides us with actual recipes you can use to threaten your family when they've been naughty.  Crown Roast of Frankfurters, Fiesta Peach-Spam Loaf, and Sausage-Filled Prunes are just a few of the tasty delights you'll find here.  Excuse me, I have to go visit the ladies' room now.

The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge, a Desk Reference for the Curious Mind, by the New York Times (2004)

This book is a Librarian's dream!  Science, the Arts, Business, Law, Geography, Government, Grammar, Biographies, Medicine, Economics, and History – the list of included information goes on and on.  I recommend this 1,096-page tome for any family that is serious about knowledge and feeding the higher mind.

My list of recommendations is just a jumping-off point for anyone that likes to read books to fill their heads with facts and trivia.  There are encyclopedias and almanacs available on almost any topic you can imagine.  Just stop by the library to see what they have waiting for you.

Raise your hand if you are not, I repeat – are not – eagerly awaiting the arrival of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on July 16^th.  There, I think I see a hand way over there…no…wait…never mind.  It appears they were just stretching.  Darn near everybody is bursting with anticipation at the return of Harry Potter.  Even though there has been very little marketing for this book, we already have over 500 people in the request queue at the library.  I expect by July that number will be well over 1,000.

The arrival of a new Harry Potter book causes a certain madness in some people.  I know of a family that draws names from a hat to determine the order in which they get to read the book.  Children that barely read anything else will read the book in a sitting (hopefully with bathroom breaks) as soon as it comes out.  In our house, where I read the book aloud to my son, I refuse to read ahead to find out what happens.  In the meantime, my partner stays up all night to finish the book, and then goes crazy because he can't talk about it with us right away.

Who could have imagined that children's books could hold such sway over people of all ages, especially respectable grownups?

I could.  Admittedly, I have a soft spot in my heart for children's literature.  It started – gasp – when I was a child!  However, there was a time consisting of more years than I care to count when I didn't read any children's books at all.  But in 1994 a miraculous thing happened – I was given a free ticket back into the children's section at the library.  It's called a kid.  I went hog-wild, I did!  I spent so much time at the library, taking N. to story times, that when I had my first interview for a job there they said, "Oh, it's you!"  We checked out huge stacks of books, brought them back, then checked out more.  I still read to Nolan almost every night, and in the last ten years I have discovered that children's literature is just as good, and sometimes better, than books written for adults.

Let me share a little secret with you.  You don't have to have children or grandchildren of your own to read books that were written for children.  It's okay.  The Librarians won't look at you funny; chances are they've read those books themselves.  The truth is, there is some downright excellent literature written for children and teens.  Plenty enough to keep us all busy while we wait for Harry Potter #6, #7, and on into eternity while we hope Ms. Rowling writes even more books about Harry.

There is just one more little thing I have to tell you, and it's part of the reason I've been thinking so much about children's literature lately.  I'm applying for a position as a Children's Librarian in the branch where I currently work.  I'm embarrassed to say that last year when I interviewed for a similar position and they asked me to name some of my favorite children's books and authors, I went blank.  BLANK.  It was horrifying, and I vowed to myself it would never happen again.  Happily, this year I have a very long list fresh in my mind, and hopefully they'll soon be fresh in your mind too!

Dragons and Other Magical Musings

Cornelia Funke

German author Cornelia Funke is a relative newcomer to the radar screen of Americans, though she has written over 40 books.  The three books that I'm familiar with are very different from each other, but I've enjoyed each very much.  I hope we're treated to more of Ms. Funke's work soon!

The Thief Lord (2003)

The first of Funke's books translated into English was an instant success.  Orphaned brothers Prosper and Bo run away from their aunt and uncle, and soon find a new "family" of street urchins living in an old theatre in Venice.  Led by the mysterious Thief Lord (a young boy named Scipio), the children embark on a mission to steal the final piece of an old wooden merry-go-round for a wealthy anonymous client.  Their mission leads them to an exciting conclusion with many surprises along the way.

Inkheart (2003)

This book is the most complex and darkest of the three.  Young Meggie discovers the terrible talent her father has for reading characters out of books when he reads aloud, and in the case of her mother, reading them in to books as well.  Unfortunately the evil Capricorn, who was read from the book Inkheart, has plans to put her father's talent to ill use.  Meggie encounters many strange characters in her quest to save her father and mother from the evil clutches of Capricorn.  This book is truly a book for booklovers, and the cover art is stunning.

Dragon Rider (2004)

If I had to choose my favorite book by Ms. Funke, it would be this one.  She writes an engaging story with a memorable cast of characters both mortal and magical.  Good-hearted Firedrake, the silver dragon, Sorrel, the smart aleck brownie (who resembles an oversized cat), and orphan Ben band together to search for the Rim of Heaven – the last safe haven for dragons somewhere in the Himalayas.  Along the way, the travelers meet traitorous dwarves, Twigleg, the nervous homunculus spy sent by the evil monster Nettlebrand (who also wishes to find the Rim of Heaven), a kindly sea serpent, a flying rat, and even a few humans that help them on their way.

Christopher Paolini

Paolini began writing his first, and highly successful, book Eragon when he was only fifteen.  The first installment the Inheritance Trilogy, Eragon will be followed in August 2005 with the release of Eldest.  I have mixed feelings about Eragon.  While I enjoyed the story overall, I found it difficult to read aloud to my son.  Especially at the beginning, the sentences were short and choppy, and made for difficulty in finding a good reading cadence; the book was also long and not a quick read.  It seemed like we were reading it forever!  That said, I do recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy and dragons (a popular subject in our house).  Serious readers of fantasy will no doubt recognize Paolini's inspirations; less serious readers may be put off by the complexity of the story.  I'm looking forward to the sequel, but have already told my son I won't be reading it aloud!

Tamora Pierce

I see books by Tamora Pierce at the library all the time, but hadn't gotten around to reading any of them until quite recently.  I can tell already that I'll be reading many more, as she is a highly talented author.  She is the author of several series, including Protector of the Small, Immortals, and Song of the Lioness.

Circle of Magic Series – Sandry's Book (#1), Tris's Book (#2), Daja's Book (#3), Briar's Book (#4)

We discovered this series when I brought home some audio books for my son.  He liked them so much that I read the first book aloud to him.  I loved it as well.  He is insisting I read the two he listened to, so we can then read the last one together.  Your wish is my command, little man!  The four youngsters are brought together to Winding Circle by the mage Niko, and soon discover that their seemingly misfit ways are in fact due to intense magical powers they are endowed with.  I particularly enjoyed the banter between the children, who don't really get along at first but soon learn to work together.  Very exciting stories!  This series is followed by the Circle Opens series, which follows our hero and heroines further as they grow older.

Nature's Own World of Fantasy

Brian Jacques

Jacques has created an amazingly complex world of animals with his Redwall series, now numbering seventeen books.  I myself have only read two of them in full, Redwall and Mossflower.  The series recounts the ongoing saga of Redwall Abbey and its inhabitants, with their continual struggle against forces of evil that persist against them.  The side of good is populated with mice, rabbits, otters, squirrels, and badgers.  And you can't help but dislike the bad characters (who often fight amongst themselves as much as against the Redwallers) – rats, weasels, stoats, and the especially nasty Tsarina the wildcat.  Surprisingly brutal and a strange mix of fantasy and reality (characters must often be on the lookout for birds of prey or large fish that would just as soon eat them), these books are not for someone looking for furry loveable creatures.  I find these books are especially popular with boys.

Kenneth Oppel

Bats.  Whether you like the real thing or not, you'll enjoy Oppel's series of stories about bats, beginning with Silverwing.  Young Shade finds himself separated from his colony during migration after a harrowing encounter with owls for which he blames himself (and in which the colony's summer home is destroyed).  Tired and scared, he soon meets Marina, a brown bat with a metal band on one of her legs.  She agrees to help Shade try to find his colony, and they set off, only to find the journey both dangerous and difficult.  When they meet Goth, a large vampire bat, Shade believes he can help them find their way – yet Goth has much more sinister plans for Shade and the colony.  The story of Shade is continued in Sunwing and Firewing.

Erin Hunter

The next time you pet your fluffy house cat, imagine what the world of feral cats might be like.  Hunter has created just that world in his Warriors series, the first of which is Into the Wild.  Rusty the housecat yearns for more than his soft life as a "kittypet" offers, so when he is given the opportunity to join the group of feral cats called ThunderClan, he decides to take the risk and begins training as a warrior.  Renamed Firepaw by the clan leader, he soon learns that there is more to his survival than hunting and fighting.  The story is filled with adventure, intrigue, and mythology – and leaves us hanging at the end.  Fortunately there are five more books in the series, and I see now a new series will be starting this year.

Odds and Ends

I realize that I've just scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to juvenile literature.  There are three more things I'd like to share with you though, and it so happens my experience with these is through the medium of audio books.  Sometimes listening to an audio book can be just as good as or better than reading the book, especially if the reader is exceptionally talented.  Case in point -

Peter and the Starcatchers (2004)

What happens when you combine the writing talents of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson?  You get the prequel to Peter Pan, of course!  Add the reading talents of Jim Dale (reader of the Harry Potter books), and you've got several hours of top-notch entertainment.  Humorous, exciting, and very clever!  As we listened, my internal brain light bulb lit up each time I realized they had just explained something from the original story of Peter Pan.  Great fun for all ages.

Pure Dead Wicked by Debi Gliori (2002)

Absurdity abounds when the Strega-Borgia family must temporarily relocate to the local inn, Auchenlochtermuchty Arms, while roof repairs are completed on the family home.  Along with their cadre of strange pets (a dragon, a crocodile, and a yeti), the family sets up camp for what turns out to be anything but a peaceful stay at the inn.  Villains conspire to take over their home, the innkeepers turn out to have a nasty streak of their own, and son Titus' computer experiment goes horribly wrong, resulting in 500 miniature pink clones of he and his sister Pandora.  I can't remember a time when I laughed as hard as when I listened to this story.

Hank the Cowdog Series by John Erickson

Last, but definitely not the least, in my tour of children's literature is the beloved Hank the Cowdog.  If you're not familiar with Hank, I suggest you head out right away, find one of the audiotapes, and get acquainted.  Hank is the self-appointed head of ranch security, and along with his sidekick Drover, spends the majority of his time solving mysteries and saving the ranch from impending disaster.  Erickson reads the stories himself, and over the years has developed a wonderful repertoire of voices for the cast of characters – the insidious Pete the Barncat, coyotes Rip and Snort, Slim the cowboy, and the dreaded Sally May, to name just a few.  Each cassette includes two original songs as well.  Hank mangles his words, is duped by Pete again and again, and can't manage to stay out of trouble for long.  My favorite so far has to be The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado, number 25 out of now 45 Hank tales.  The burning question is – who is actually dumber – Hank or Drover?

Sometimes I wonder if our human culture will be able to withstand itself in the years to come.  We seem to be doing a fine job of endangering ourselves these days – as I write this it was discovered that a deadly strain of flu had been sent out to thousands of labs around the world.  We're using up resources and spitting them back out as pollution at a breakneck pace and developing more weapons capable of unthinkable destruction.  We seem to be ignoring all the signs that our lives cannot continue to go on as we are accustomed to.  Crazy perhaps, but I like to think that humanity can get their act together and take care of themselves and the earth.  However, I'm afraid the magic eight ball says, "you're kidding, right?"

Wait a minute – isn't this supposed to be a column about reading?  I imagine you're thinking this right about now.  Don't worry.  It still is.  It turns out that quite a few books have been written about the downfall of modern technological civilization, and the ways in which we humans might cope with such changes.  We'll stick with fiction this month, but I'm sure you can find plenty of non-fiction on this topic as well.  Plenty.  And I don't purport to be any sort of expert on these books, but I've read a few that I've really enjoyed and think you'll find worth your time as well.

Heck, there's even a Library of Congress subject heading for books in this genre:

Regression (Civilization) Fiction.

You might not yet find many titles under this heading; there are only five titles in my library's catalog.  Two of them deal with space colonies, which at this point I'm not considering.  I'm interested in earth – the ground we walk on, the air we breathe, and the water we drink – stories that take place in the very recent past, or the not too distant future.  Events that could happen TOMORROW.

Are you ready?

Societal collapse comes in many flavors.  It could be a devastating germ knocking out the vast majority of humans.  Or maybe a sudden natural disaster, like a meteorite, or Yellowstone undergoing a massive volcanic eruption.  What about climate change brought on by human activity – or natural events?  Too hot…too cold…wicked storms?  Then of course there is the possibility of technologies developed by humans backfiring with unintended consequences.  Such cheery thoughts.

What I appreciate most about this handful of books is the way in which they make me think about my own life.  I'm led to take a good look at my niche in the world, and consider what it would be like if some aspect was suddenly and irreversibly changed.  It's one thing if the electricity were to go off for a day or two, but forever?  I can't say that I would be completely opposed to that particular change in society, but then I tend towards the pioneer mentality.  Of course, there would be no more Bibliomancy – but at that point I imagine I'd be too busy working to sustain myself and family to notice.  Stop just a minute and envision what it would be like where you live – where would you get your food?  What kind of community do you live in?  Is it urban or rural?  What are the people like, and how would they react to a sudden catastrophe?  When it comes to survival, very different things motivate different people.  Some people come together for the common good, and others, well – you and I both know there are people looking for any opportunity to get ahead, no matter who is hurt along the way.

Are you ready?

In honor of my topic this month, I'm rereading Stephen King's The Stand.  I can't remember exactly when I first read it, but it must have been the early eighties.  Now that I'm older and more aware of the world, I am really creeped out.  To me, illness is scarier than natural disasters, or even terrorist attacks.  Death by germs – those microscopic entities that exist completely without prejudice – released by human error no less.  I'm not too far into it (it is rather long), but I'm please to report I'm finding it to be quite engaging.  Creepy, but engaging.

Dies the Fire – S. M. Stirling (2004)

Mode of collapse – mysterious white flash that instantaneously renders useless all electronics, gas powered engines, and even guns!

I loved this book – no bones about it.  I came across a book review in a library journal, and as soon as I read that it dealt with immediate loss of modern technology, I practically ran to the shelves to retrieve it (fortunately it was in and I didn't have to wait to start reading).  The story follows two main characters – ex-Marine Mike Havel, who crash lands his small plane carrying a wealthy (though mostly young and strapping) family in the mountains of Idaho, and Juniper Mackenzie, a Wiccan priestess who leads her followers to begin a farm on her land in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  As you might have guessed, the two groups eventually cross paths, and both face all sorts of difficulties as they cope with "the Change."

Collapse is sudden, complete, and leads to utter chaos within a matter of days.  Only those that are resourceful, clever, and tough rise above the rioting masses to begin life anew.  Stirling paints a picture of society that I believe is quite accurate, in the face of such total collapse.  The good people work hard to maintain a semblance of order and community, and the bad people are really bad, as they try to take advantage of the situation to gain power over others.  The desperation of impending starvation leads some to unspeakable acts, while others just sit by the side of the road and die waiting for someone to come and help them.  The horrors of the situation in bigger cities are only alluded to, but one can picture the sorry state of affairs.

Havel and Mackenzie both find themselves lifted to positions of near mythic proportion by their followers, despite their lack of desire to be on such a pedestal.  However, they both rise to the occasion, and by the end of it all seem to be comfortable as leaders in the new world.  The end of this book is not the end of the road for "Lord Bear" and "Lady Juniper" as their respective groups call them, as two more books are planned for this series.  I can't wait!  Stirling has created both engaging characters and an exciting storyline, and I highly recommend Dies the Fire.  Be ready to evaluate yourself and your own life as you read – there's nothing like a good dose of "what-if" reality.

Into the Forest – Jean Hegland (1998)

Mode of collapse – vague and unknown social deterioration.  The power goes out and never comes back on, gas tankers quit delivering gas, and eventually society crumbles due to rioting and disease.

I find this to be one the most thoughtful and disturbing books I've ever read.  The story takes place on a remote homestead in the redwood forests of northern California.  Teenage sisters Nell and Eva, homeschooled and isolated from mainstream society, cope fairly well as small changes begin to occur.  At first, the power goes off for a bit each day, though for longer and longer periods of time.  Then, the power only comes on for brief periods, until one day it never comes on at all.  Trips to town with their father bring rumors of distant chaos, but it soon becomes clear that the troubles are serious and won't be getting better.

When their father dies in a tragic accident, the sisters find themselves to be truly alone in the forest.  As their supplies dwindle, they are forced to survive off the resources at their doorstep – though they don't realize what they have until Nell reads in a book that Indians once lived off the land, and they find another book with information on edible plants.  Nell and Eva learn to survive together, and face an uncertain future as they become a part of the forest themselves.

Most frightening about this book is the very realistic way in which their society collapses – nothing sudden, just a gradual decline as bits and pieces fall apart, until nothing is left to hold it together.  Nell and Eva may be isolated from the worst of it, but they are no less affected in their drive for survival.  I've read this book multiple times, and each time I'm reminded how completely dependant we are on modern technologies like electricity and oil.  So much is wasted – so much could be saved and cherished.

Into the Forest is an excellent choice for a book group selection, and I guarantee it will inspire much thoughtful conversation.

Ill Wind – Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason (1995)

Mode of collapse – untested microbes are released on a San Francisco oil spill, but end up spreading and eating up all other petroleum-based materials.

Look around you right now – what would be gone if tiny bugs ate up all the petroleum based products in your life?  Would you be wearing any clothes, or would all that nice fleece be gone?  Nylon threads holding together your cotton underwear – gone.  Tupperware containers, computer keyboards, CDs, plastic coating on wiring – vanished.  All of it dissolved away within days.  The only things left would be metal, wood, glass, stone, and natural fibers.  Our dependency on petroleum goes far deeper than most people stop to consider.

Ill Wind begins with a disastrous oil spill in San Francisco Bay, caused by a disgruntled tanker crewman.  Perhaps not as thoughtful as the two previous books, Ill Wind is still a good read.  More of a beach book, if you will.  As society collapses from the loss of petroleum based products, a small band of scientists race to launch solar powered satellites which will then be used to begin production of alternative energy.  Our intrepid scientists battle technical difficulties and soldiers enforcing martial law (who have very different ideas about the use of the satellites).   Can they succeed, and bring about hope in the new and different times?

The interconnectedness of all we do and have becomes painfully clear in each of these books.  A disaster is like a row of dominoes, and once the first one falls the rest fall with it.  We would be well advised to remember this, but it's rather difficult in our current state of detachment from our roots in the earth.  Ultimately, the thread tying these stories together is that of hope – that despite the challenges faced, there will be people that can survive and rebuild a better society.  Let us hope that in the real world people are as resilient as those on the pages of these tales are!

This is but a tiny scratch at the surface of the books written about humanity's attempt to survive after some sort of widespread societal collapse.  Perhaps you know of a good one; I'd be happy to hear from you with your thoughts.  Drop me a line at a_murphy@subter.com.

Are you comfortable living in the information age?  Have you ever thought about what that really means?  Information age.  The age of information.  Hasn't information always been around?  What makes the present different from the past?  It's good to be informed.  Information is power.  So why do you feel stressed out?

What is information, anyways?  According to the American Heritage Dictionary, information is "knowledge derived from study, experience, or instruction."  Well then, that narrows it down a bit.  Essentially everything we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste can be construed as information.  As we go through our day, we're continually bombarded by a never-ending stream of sights and sounds, smells and tastes.  Are we ever free to rest?  Even as we sleep our brains continue to process data, which may or may not be remembered as dreams when we wake up in the morning.

Since there is no escaping information, the best we can do is be aware of the amount we encounter in our day-to-day lives, and perhaps devise a plan to cope with it.  Sound good?

Try this little experiment – if you can stand it, go to your nearest Wal-Mart store.  As you wander the aisles, take notice of the sights and sounds around you.  It seems every ten feet there are either speakers or television screens blasting messages at you, not to mention the screaming children and parents.  The sound level is awful - I wish I had a decibel counter to take in with me next time.  Of course, if I were smart, there wouldn't be a next time, and if you're smart you'll just take my word for it and avoid the trip altogether.  A trip to Wal-Mart is an experience in information pollution.

Rather than tarnish your good mind with thoughts of Wal-Mart, lets take an excursion into the world of information stored in physical media (print, film, magnetic, and optical), and accessed via four different information flows (telephone, radio, TV, and the internet).  According to researchers at the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkeley, the amount of new information created each year is, in my opinion, mind-boggling.  In order to better grasp what the measured units of information really mean, the following table from their report How Much Information? 2003 shows easily understandable comparisons:

Table 1.1: How Big is an Exabyte?

Kilobyte (KB)
1,000 bytes OR 10³bytes
2 Kilobytes: A Typewritten page.
100 Kilobytes: A low-resolution photograph.

Gigabyte (GB)

1,000,000,000 bytes OR 10⁹ bytes
1 Gigabyte: a pickup truck filled with books.
20 Gigabytes: A good collection of the works of Beethoven.
100 Gigabytes: A library floor of academic journals. 

Wow!  Those are some mighty big numbers!  Theoretically, I could fit 80 pickup trucks worth of books on the external hard drive we just bought for our home computer.  I'm trying to visualize 80 pickup trucks lined up – almost a quarter mile?  It's a little hard to grasp at this late hour.

Are you ready for the kicker?  In 2002, the amount of new information produced was approximately five Exabytes.  That turns out to be the equivalent of 37,000 Library of Congress book collections.  For now these are the most current numbers, but one can imagine the amount of new information created each year since.  Heck, I bet that in 2004 there were five Exabytes in spam emails alone!  Spend a few minutes reading the report.  You'll no doubt be amazed, just as I was, at the shear quantity of information we humans create and send back and forth to each other.

We are literally drowning in information.

How does information overload play out in our daily lives?  I know that for my part, I find it difficult to read very many books from beginning to end.  Working in a library, I see so many books, and almost every day I bring home more books.  A good day for me is when I return more books than I bring home.  There are just so many good books though!  I catch myself thinking "Hey, that looks interesting" all the time.  Too many books, so little time as the saying goes.  My electronic overload isn't too severe, but there are days when I feel blue about the state of the world.  My tendency is to check the online news sites several times a day, and too much of that is bound to cause dismay.  No news is good news.  Think about that one for a bit.  In my experience, information overload causes stress and a tendency not to finish anything.  Too many choices!  Is there any wonder attention deficit plagues people today?

The question then becomes, how do we get out from under this mountain of information?  I don't have any magic answers, but I can tell you that the only person that can make your life better is you.  By being aware of the part information plays in your life, you can begin to monitor and control its flow.  The major streams we deal with on a daily basis are visual (television, movies, games), audio (radio, cell phones), print (books, magazines, newspapers), and the internet (email, news, entertainment).  One can either minimize exposure or completely cut any stream of information.  The stream I have chosen to cut is television, at least in its network, cable, and satellite forms.  My cell phone usage is very limited.  My personal downfall – books, magazines, and the internet.  Oh well.  At least I know where my overload comes from, so it's up to me to make the changes I need for a more sane life.  Maybe the key is better planning.  Maybe it's giving up the news.  Either way, understanding the information streams in my life is a good beginning.

While you study how information affects you and your life, remember to take a break and plant a garden, paint a picture, take a walk, and spend some time with the people and pets you love.  Slow down, and enjoy your life.  It's the only one you've got.

Resources

American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.  Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/61/ on May 15, 2005.

Lyman, Peter and Hal R. Varian, "How Much Information", 2003. Retrieved from http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info-2003 on May 15, 2005.

I have a vivid memory of the first magazine I subscribed to.  It was an early version of National Geographic World (now National Geographic Kids), and I remember an article about Iceland volcanoes.  I can still picture in my mind a photo of houses nearly covered in thick, black, volcanic cinders.  Very striking to a young girl who would later study geology in college!  I kept stacks of the thin volumes and read through them often, and was always excited when the new issue came in the mail.  Since that time, magazines have been a part of my life as a favorite form of reading material.

Magazines, periodicals, journals – whatever you might call them – are an ideal form for both obtaining and disseminating information.  Benjamin Franklin published one of the first American magazines, The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, for All the British Plantations in America, in 1741.  Early magazines were difficult to produce and expensive to mail, but producers persevered and soon magazines became an accepted and popular medium for the written word.  Thomas Paine, Noah Webster, and Paul Revere (as an engraver) were all involved in the beginnings of the American magazine industry.  Magazines provided a forum for commentary and information on issues of the day – just as they do now.

To be technical for a moment, "periodical" is the name of the larger group of publications that includes magazines and journals, as well as newspapers, newsletters, and other serials.  Magazines and journals are published on a regular schedule (weekly, monthly, quarterly), and are released before the date printed on the cover.  Magazines cover popular topics that appeal to a wide public audience, and journals are usually more scholarly and specialized – though that doesn't stop some magazines from using the word journal in their title, for instance Ladies Home Journal.  Adds a bit of legitimacy, I suppose.

Is there anyone that doesn't like magazines?  The sheer number of titles available would suggest there's truly something for everyone.  Whether you like sports, news, politics, art, literature, health, cooking, crafts, gardening, or naked ladies – there are sure to be several to choose from.  We have over 200 hundred different magazines at my library, and that's just a scratch on the tip of the iceberg.  If you can think of a topic, chances are you can find a magazine covering said topic, no matter how obscure.  And even if you don't read them, you're probably familiar with some of the magazines with the highest circulation numbers.  According to Mediaweek, the top ten consumer magazines (circulation numbers as of June 30, 2004) are as follows:

AARP Magazine – 22,270,073

AARP Bulletin – 22,270,073

Reader's Digest – 10,228,531

TV Guide – 9,016,188

Better Homes and Gardens – 7,268,424

National Geographic Magazine – 5,468,471

Good Housekeeping – 4,623,113

Family Circle – 4,372,813

Ladies Home Journal – 4,108,619

Woman's Day – 4,060,619

No real big surprises there, though it is of interest to note that the two AARP publications are sent to all association members, and they may not have joined specifically for the magazine.  I wonder what two magazines might make the top ten if we eliminated the two from AARP – People?  Sports Illustrated?  Newsweek?  Hard to say, but it's likely most people might mention those titles if asked what were the most popular magazines in America.

Short of running out of trees for printing, I believe magazines will continue in their popularity for a long time to come.  They are easy to obtain, by either subscription or the inevitable impulsive purchase at the grocery store checkstand.  Magazines are completely portable.  Tuck one under your arm or stow one in your purse, and you will never lack for reading material no matter where you end up.  Interested in a new hobby?  Grab a magazine to learn more about it before committing yourself to a set of expensive dust collectors.  Perhaps you're planning a trip, or want to remodel your home.  Again, much can be learned with just an issue or two on your topic of interest.  Artists and craftspersons can gain inspiration and ideas from magazines – or cut them up to use as collage material.  Magazines are the ultimate in instant gratification information – more often than not you can pick one up, open it to any page, and find something to occupy your mind for a few minutes or a few hours.

Browsing an extensive magazine stand can be a very pleasurable experience, as you can find magazines you might not know ever existed.  Barnes and Noble has a good selection of magazines, as do most other large bookstores.  If you're really lucky, your town will have a true newsstand carrying an esoteric variety of magazines from around the world.  One of my favorite stores for magazine browsing is located in the sleepy town of Port Angeles, Washington.  The first time I visited Port Book & News I was amazed at the selection of magazines stretching the entire length of one wall.  You never really know what you might find when browsing a magazine stand, especially if you look in the back rows.  One of my recent finds at Barnes and Noble was Paranoia: the Conspiracy Reader.  Full of such gems as "The Thousand Year Elven Holocaust" and "Vaccines and Human Animal Husbandry" how could you really go wrong?  I didn't actually buy it this time around, but maybe next time…

I love it when one of my magazines arrives in the mail.  I usually skim from front to back before settling in and reading the articles.  Some people, on the other hand, read every word from beginning to end, and others start from the back of the magazine.  I like to look at all the advertisements, read the letters to the editor, and I've always enjoyed the "classified" section too.  You can find some very unusual things there!  Even the advertisements can be interesting (note I say can be).  No matter how you read a magazine, it's always a special experience as you see what's in between the covers of each new issue.

Magazines can be used as a barometer of a person's true personality, too.  At our house, we currently get several magazines:  Countryside & Small Stock Journal; Mother Earth News; Beadwork; Neopets, the Official Magazine; Montana Outdoors; and Friends Journal, Quaker Thought and Life Today.  In the past we've also subscribed to Bead & Button, National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Utne Reader, Ranger Rick, and Zoobooks.  At any given time we may have some of the following magazines out from the library:  Harper's; In These Times; Z Magazine; The Nation; Yoga Journal; Sunset; Black Belt; Military History; Somerset Studio; Rolling Stone…the list goes on.  You might be able to paint a fairly accurate picture of us by our magazine reading habits!

One might ask why bother anymore, since so many magazines can be found online?  I say take your favorite magazine and compare the print and online version.  I'll bet the online version lacks some of the stories and letters (though they might entice you with a special online only article or project), and it might not even have all of the pictures!  What good is that?  Besides, you just can't read your computer in the bathtub.  Magazines will be here to stay for a good, long time.  Enjoy!

Resources

DeSpain, J J, A Writer's Guide to Getting Published in Magazines

Definition of "periodical" – Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical, retrieved June 15, 2005.

Top selling magazines – Mediaweek, http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/directories/toptens/cons_mag.jsp, retrieved June 15, 2005.

All Magazines Mentioned in This Article

AARP Bulletin - http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/

AARP Magazine - http://www.aarpmagazine.org/

Bead & Button - http://www.beadandbutton.com/

Beadwork - http://www.interweave.com/bead/default.asp

Better Homes and Gardens - http://www.bhg.com/

Black Belt - http://www.blackbeltmag.com/

Countryside & Small Stock Journal - http://www.countrysidemag.com/index.htm

Family Circle - http://www.familycircle.com/home/homepage.jsp

Friends Journal, Quaker Thought and Life Today - http://www.friendsjournal.org/

Good Housekeeping - http://magazines.ivillage.com/goodhousekeeping

Harper's - http://www.harpers.org/

In These Times - http://www.inthesetimes.com/

Ladies Home Journal - http://www.lhj.com/

Military History - http://www.thehistorynet.com/mh/

Montana Outdoors - http://fwp.state.mt.us/mtoutdoors/

Mother Earth News - http://www.motherearthnews.com/

National Geographic Adventure - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/

National Geographic Kids - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/

National Geographic Magazine - http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/index.html

National Geographic World – no longer available

Neopets, the Official Magazine - http://www.beckett.com/neopets/

Newsweek - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek/

Outside - http://outside.away.com/index.html

Paranoia: the Conspiracy Reader - http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/

People - http://people.aol.com/people

Ranger Rick - http://www.nwf.org/kidzone/kzPage.cfm?siteId=3

Reader's Digest - http://www.rd.com/

Rolling Stone - http://www.rollingstone.com/?rnd=1119836635859&has-player=false

Somerset Studio - http://www.stampington.com/html/somerset_studio_magazine.html

Sports Illustrated - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/?cnn=yes

Sunset - http://www.sunset.com/sunset/

The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, for All the British Plantations in America – no longer available

The Nation - http://www.thenation.com/

TV Guide - http://www.tvguide.com/

Utne Reader - http://www.utne.com/

Woman's Day - http://www.womansday.com/

Yoga Journal - http://www.yogajournal.com/

Z Magazine - http://www.zmag.org/

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how we modern humans live our lives, at least those of us that might be called "average" Americans.  I think we take an awful lot for granted, don't you?

Where does your food come from, for instance?  Most likely, the majority of it is shipped hundreds of miles from large corporate factories to your local grocery store.  A series of strangers has grown, harvested, prepared, packaged, transported, and stored that tasty grub especially for your dining pleasure.  Do you think their hands were clean?  Did they sneeze on your food as it whizzed past on the conveyor belt?  Exactly what were those chemicals they sprayed on there, anyhow?  These are no doubt questions you'd rather not think about.  No problem, lets move on.

Clothing.  We all wear it.  Again – where did it come from?  Whose hands sewed it together?  Sometimes I look at the racks of clothing and wonder about the people that spend every day working to manufacture the latest styles for those of us that need to have something new every season.  Do you think they have nice air-conditioned work areas, and hour lunch breaks to rest?  Can they even afford to buy the clothes they make?  Maybe, but probably not.

Almost everything we consume comes from "somewhere else."  So often, we mindlessly buy what we think we need without much thought as to its history.  What's the big deal, you ask?

I ask you – what do you know how to do?  Do you have any skills that actually contribute to your survival?  I'm not talking about surviving the commute to work every day to earn the money to buy things – that doesn't count here.  I'm talking about truly basic skills, which in my opinion have gone by the wayside in our busy high-tech lives.

There was a time, not so long ago, that a person learned a wide variety of skills as they were growing up.  Granted, girls tended to learn one set of skills and boys another, but a man and woman could come together as a nearly self-sufficient unit.  Most family needs were met at home, with occasional trades with neighbors and visits to the nearest commerce center to fill the gaps.  Each and every family member was responsible for something, even the smallest of children.

Today our lives are very different.  Rather than directly providing for ourselves and our families, we work one or more jobs to make the money needed to get by.  We race from work to the grocery store and home to the microwave – eat, sleep, then do it again.  We rely on just about everyone but ourselves to take care of us.  Nobody is really to blame for this; I imagine it just sort of…happened.

There is hope, however, for those of us that want to learn some of these skills and lessen our reliance on others.  As usual, salvation comes through the printed word.  Surprise!  This month I'd like to share with you a few catchall reference books on country living skills, as well as two magazines I'm particularly fond of.  So put on your Wellies and let's get going…

I'll start with the magazines, because they're such a great way to get a feel for a subject before diving in head first.  Just stick a toe in and see if the water is warm.

Countryside & Small Stock Journal, bi-monthly

http://www.countrysidemag.com/

Countryside is by far one of my favorite magazines.  Each issue is full of practical advice on a wide range of topics from gardening to cooking to animal husbandry.  What sets Countryside apart from other magazines, however, is that the majority of information is submitted by readers that are living the country life themselves.  Their stories are interesting, and the advice they give comes straight from experience.  The most recent issue, for instance, has a large section on preserving your harvest with tips and recipes for canning, as well as articles on goat-raising, building a chicken tractor, and alternative energy sources.  Some of the submissions are no longer than a paragraph or two, and others are a bit longer – but each helps add to the store of knowledge behind the skills needed to provide for your family.  The magazine is printed in primarily black and white on high quality newsprint paper.  Nothing pretentious from these folks, just down to earth information sharing between neighbors near and far.

Mother Earth News, bi-monthly

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Glossy and full of color pictures, Mother Earth News is sure to appeal more to the mainstream masses that dream wistfully of moving to the country and creating a more "simple" life for themselves.  Everything in the magazine is beautiful and the people in the pictures all have a healthy glow.  That being said, the magazine is still full of useful information and resources for learning more.  As far as I'm concerned, if folks in the urban areas start reading this type of information and change some of their habits, even if they never move to the country, then this magazine is a success.

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Once you've spent a little time exploring the ideas behind self-sufficient living, it's time to wade in up to your waist and start looking at some of the BIG books on the subject.  I say BIG because either have lots of pages or are physically big (kind of cool, but kind of awkward).

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, updated Ninth Edition

Carla Emery, 2003, Sasquatch Books

Carla Emery began writing this book in 1969, and over the years it has grown into one of the most well-known resources for country living.  Checking in at 871 pages (not counting the index), the book includes information on raising plants and animals, what to do with them once you've got them, and where to go for more help.  There is even a short quiz and an achievement checklist at the end of the book!  To give you an idea of what you might find in the encyclopedia, I'll just pull some random tidbits for you.

Planning a garden for different seasons of the year

Recipes for steamed breads (puddings)

Recipe for rose and rhubarb syrup, and other things to do with rose petals

How to build fencing for your animals

Duck varieties and how they are used

Possible reasons for off flavors in milk

14 Principles for making a profit on the farm

You get the idea.  This particular issue includes over 1500 websites, email addresses, and mail-order sources.  Wow!

Country Wisdom & Know-how, Everything you need to know to live off the land

Storey Books, 2004, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.

I picked up a copy of this book at Costco, of all places.  I was terribly excited to find it – how could you go wrong with 8,167 USEFUL SKILLS AND STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS and 1,887 ILLUSTRATIONS, DIAGRAMS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS?  You can't.  This is the physically large book I mentioned previously, my guess is it's about 14" x 11," and  480 pages of rather small print.  Again, we find scads of information in one useful (if unwieldy) volume.  The book is broken up into six sections – animals, cooking, crafts, gardening, health and wellbeing, and home, plus appendices.  I'll share a few snippets with you again, so you can get a feel for the information covered in the book.

Plants that are poisonous to house cats

Grooming tools for your horse

29 recipes using blueberries

Making grapevine wreaths

What to do when the power fails

Using beneficial insects

Building stone walls

Tea herbs

I'm definitely looking forward to trying out some of the ideas and recipes in this book.

Back to Basics, How to learn and enjoy traditional American skills, Second Edition

Readers Digest, 1996

Back to Basics is yet another great all-around reference.  The book is split into sections just like the others – land, energy sources, raising plants and livestock, enjoying your harvest, crafts and skills, and recreation.  Each section then has several short articles, and sticking with form here are a few snippets for you.

Getting your home plans onto paper

Fireplace construction and design

Determining how much power your stream can provide

Beekeeping

Building a solar dehydrator

Hooked rugs, braided rugs

Woodworking

Old fashioned games and toys

Wilderness camping

  I would go so far as to say that this book is a bit more user friendly than the previous two mentioned (though all have good information).  The physical size, plus color photos and diagrams make for a pleasant reading experience.  The information is educational and the projects are achievable.

Hobby Farm, Living your rural dream for pleasure and profit

Carol Ekarius, 2005, BowTie Press

I just found this brand spanking new book at the library last week, and felt it worth recommending to folks who are a bit more serious about their intentions.  At first glance, the book is gorgeous, full of bright colored photographs and attractive sidebars.  Once I started looking closely at the book, I discovered it to be an excellent overview for anyone considering farming as something more than a hobby.  The author has farmed for over twenty years, nine of them commercially, and thus has an excellent insight into the machinations of running a small farm.  I especially appreciated her honesty regarding the potential pitfalls and difficulties one might face on the farm.  She covers everything from the decision to farm to farm safety to crop yields to preserving the harvest.  Although the book is a general reference, I found it to be full of very useful information.

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Although each of the books and magazines above share some of the same information, they also differ in the topics they cover.  Ultimately I would recommend each of them for your home library if you are serious about sustainable living and learning basic skills.  The wealth of knowledge that can be gained is immense, and there is so much to be learned from those that have already made the decision to live this sort of lifestyle.

Isn't this really what it's all about – basic skills that provide both sustenance and satisfaction?  Where is the satisfaction in dialing a cell phone, sitting in traffic, or standing in line at the grocery store?  Severely lacking, I dare say.  Satisfaction lies in working with your hands, and providing for yourself and loved ones.   Joy comes from creation and successful projects.  Peace comes from slowing down and getting to know yourself, your family, and the land.

I ask you now – what do you want to learn to do?  There's nobody stopping you but yourself.

I have returned from vacation – well rested and ready to roll.  Still busy, but is that any surprise?  I am resigned to the fact that for the time being, at least, things aren't likely to change.  I'll just have to remember to make time for reading so I have many good books to share with you.  Fortunately, we're entering the dark time of year when it's nice to stay in and cozy up with a cup of tea and a good read.

This month I've decided to cover a few different odds and ends rather than focus on one theme.  My life has been rather scattered lately, and so have my reading habits.  I've been reading fiction, non-fiction, educational graphic novels, comics, camera user guides, food packaging…you name it.  Got words on it?  I'll read it.

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Sequels – love them or hate them, it seems they've become a mainstay of the publishing industry.  How better can a best selling author continue to make zillions of dollars than riding on the coattails of their own success?  The idea behind a sequel, I suppose, is that an author can continue a story he or she has started in a previous work.  Sometimes the author plans in advance that their story will take perhaps three volumes, or seven as is the case with Harry Potter.  In other cases, I imagine the author has such astounding success with a work that he or she decides to continue on and expand the original tale.  One of the biggest problems with sequels is when you have to wait.  And wait.  And hope that nothing horrible happens to the author before the next book comes out.  Then wait some more – there's nothing more maddening than a publishing delay!  Can't those authors write faster?  Finally, the eagerly awaited book arrives in your library or on the bookstore shelves.  Will it live up to your expectations?  There's only one way to find out, and that's to dive right in and read it.

Warning – next section contains spoilers!

One of the most hyped sequels ever came out over the summer – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling.  Unless you live in a deep cavern or under a very large rock, you've no doubt been caught up in Harry mania just like everyone else.  Each time one of these books came out, we rushed to buy it right away and got to reading it quickly.  This time was different, however.  Could it be that Harry fatigue is setting in?  Is it possible that the whole business of Harry and his friends having adventures and then fighting Voldemort is getting just a bit old?  Well, yes, it is getting a little old, at least for me.  Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the latest installment of the Harry saga quite a bit.  I enjoyed the fact that Harry wasn't as whiny as in the fifth book, and I also found the interactions between the characters as they discovered the ups and downs of male/female relationships quite amusing.  But did she really have to kill off Dumbledore?  Snape's turn towards definite evil wasn't too much of a surprise, and it was rather dramatic.  I had rather wondered why he was working for the good, despite his intense animosity towards most in that camp.  In a way I'm glad that the final book looks as if it will have to take a different form, since Harry has such specific tasks outside of the usual school setting.  Hopefully that will make the final book in the series worth it all – though I'm sure there will be very high expectations for it.  I'll read it, and even though I'm a tad tired of it all, maybe by the time it comes out I'll feel excited for it one last time. 

No more spoilers.  You can come back now.

Back in Issue 1.4 I wrote a review of a fantastic book called Dies the Fire, by S. M. Stirling.  You may recall that in this particular book, all motorized, computerized, and some other mechanical technology (guns, in particular) is suddenly and catastrophically rendered useless in one bright flash of light.  After "the change," we follow several groups of people as they cope with such a different life and learn to take care of themselves – or perish.  I am excited to say that the sequel, The Protector's War, came out early.  I've only just read a few pages, but I can say that I read it slowly so I can savor the story.  Stirling is one of the best writers I've come across recently.  The depth of his characters and the complexity of his narrative make for a truly enjoyable read.  I'll report back when I've finished it (as I wait for the third book in the trilogy…drats).

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Sometimes when you don't have the energy or time to read a nice long book and its fifteen sequels, you might prefer something a little catchier.  The kind of book you can open to any page and learn something new, for instance.  Well have I got the books for you…

I bet you didn't know that Michael Jackson allegedly paid a witch doctor $150,000 to put a curse on Steven Spielberg and David Geffen (he was upset he hadn't been cast in the movie Hook).  Or maybe you were unaware that before 1847, people that didn't eat meat were called Pythagoreans?  Perhaps you were wondering which state has the highest number of bars per person – Wisconsin – and didn't know that Wisconsin also has the second highest number of UFO sightings per year!  If that weren't bad enough, Wisconsin has the highest binge-drinking rate, too.  Must be the cold weather.  By now you're probably asking yourself, "How can I learn such wonderful trivia, so I might shock and amaze all of my friends?"  The answer, my friend, is in one nifty book called Vital Statistics: An amazing compendium of factoids, minutiae, and random bits of wisdom, by Paul Grobman.  You'll find 337 pages of interesting information tidbits – open the book to any page and you're sure to learn something you never realized you needed to know!  I like the format of the book, with each 2-4 page spread covering a particular topic (apparitions, luck, underwear, etc.).  Though the book has no index, the topics are organized in alphabetical order for easy reference.

Another book I just found fits the bill if you're looking for a quick passage to read, especially if you're interested in conspiracy theories.  Even if you aren't, you might find 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know by Russ Kick, to be – well, quite a kick.  This little fit-in-your-pocket book is sure to fill your mind with all kinds of enlightening information – and remember, "they" don't want you to know these things so it's best to find out all that secret information.  Here you'll learn about how work kills more people than war, the CIA commits over 100,000 serious crimes each year, and that the insurance industry wants to genetically test all policy holders.  Once you've spent a little time with this book you'll be able to converse knowledgeably with even the most hardcore of conspiracy theorists – if you haven't become one yourself!

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Over the last few days, I reread one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.  The first time I read it, just a couple of years ago, I was floored by what I thought was his foresight into today's culture.  I'm not much of a fan of television, and can see the detrimental effect it has on society.  The idea that people might have a room in their house where two, three, or if they were lucky all four walls were television screen is rather appalling to me, yet today we see televisions getting bigger and bigger.  Then there's the bit about how the people came to stop reading – the books just seemed to have more and more pictures and less and less words, and soon the people finally stopped reading and didn't care anymore.  I will admit to you, as a librarian and book lover, that has to be one of my biggest fears – that people will lose interest in reading.  I realize that this is somewhat silly, but then there is that problem of graphic novels.

I have quite a love-hate relationship with the old graphic novel.  For the sake of focus, I'm leaving comic books out of this discussion.  They live in a realm all their own, and can't really be lumped in with what I consider as graphic novels.  Each day at the library, I process vast quantities of manga books, one subset of graphic novels.  Let me share a little secret with you – I loathe them.  I've even developed a theory about them, that they are a Japanese plot to take over the United States by causing the next generation to be completely ignorant.  There really isn't much reading involved, as they only have a handful of words on each page.  The artwork in them is hideous (all those big eyes give me the creeps), and you can open almost every one of them to any page and either see somebody staring into space or slicing the guts out of somebody.  Sometimes both.  On the other hand, there are many graphic novels that I enjoy.  Ghost World, by Daniel Clowes is one that I particularly enjoyed.  I generally prefer a book that has a little more depth to it, and can't justify completely writing off all graphic novels as pure drivel.

There are now even a few non-fiction books written in the graphic novel format.  I might tend to be a bit skeptical about these, were it not for the wonderful book that was pointed out to me by my dear man.  Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb, by Jim Ottaviani and a number of artists, is a great telling of the story behind the development of the first nuclear weapons.  One might thinks this would be rather dull, but I found the story to be quite fascinating, especially the account of the hearings to determine if Oppenheimer's security clearance would be extended.  The book includes excerpts of letters, and a section of explanatory footnotes at then end.  The most exciting thing to me, however, is that Ottaviani has written five more books about scientists, all of which are in the graphic novel format.  Our library doesn't have the others yet, but I'm hoping we'll get them soon.  Like it or not, I think these books would be excellent for hooking some of those reluctant readers – they cover interesting topics and have great artwork!  I can't wait to read the rest of them.

********************

Traditions.  We all have them – but is there really any tradition as fine as the end of the year list?  As we get ready to move on into the next year, it is customary to wrap up the waning year in tidy, easy to digest packages.  The human drive to compartmentalize kicks into high gear right around Thanksgiving and continues on through the end of the year, leaving us with a warm fuzzy feeling about the year.  On the other hand, maybe it's the hot buttered rum causing that fuzzy feeling…either way, I've collected a few interesting book lists for your viewing pleasure.

Quills Book Awards

The Quill Award is a new literary award offered for the first time in 2005.  As stated on the Quills Literacy Foundation website, The Quill Award is

A new book award program that pairs a populist sensibility with Hollywood-style glitz to bestow the first literary prizes reflecting the tastes of the people who matter most--readers. The Quills celebrates the best books of the year in nineteen popular categories, ranging from romance to biography to graphic novels and beyond.

Not surprisingly, the book of the year winner was the latest Harry Potter offering (I expect it will top many end of the year lists for 2005, whether it was really the best book or not).  Some of the other winners include The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (Humor and Audio Book), The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore (Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror), and Peace is the Way: Bringing War and Violence to an End by Deepak Chopra (Religion/Spirituality).

Amazon Top 50 Books of 2005

Amazon.com has become one of the world's largest booksellers.  Whether you like them or not, if you're interested in book lists then it's worth visiting their website.  Not only can you see their top 50 books of 2005 (see below), you can also access thousands of lists created by customers on every topic imaginable.  Beware – if you start looking through those lists, you may lose hours of your time without realizing it!  For now, we'll stick with the top books of 2005 lists; I'll share the top ten in each list with you.  I always like to compare the "literary" lists against the sales lists, though it might be noted that books released late in the year might not top the customer's list.  Do you really think the just released The Complete Calvin and Hobbes won't be a huge seller?  Not I.  I predict it will top the charts for 2006.  I also note that the only book in either list that I've read is Harry Potter.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Editor's Picks

• The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything – Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
• Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life – Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• My Friend Leonard – James Frey
• Oh the Glory of It All – Sean Wilsey
• Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
• The History of Love: a Novel – Nicole Krauss
• The Complete Calvin and Hobbes – Bill Watterson
• The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century – Thomas L. Friedman

Customer's Picks

• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Book Six) – J. K. Rowling
• YOU: the Owner's Manual : an Insider's Guide to the Body That Will Make You Healthier and Young – Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet Oz
• The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century – Thomas L. Friedman
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything – Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
• Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcom Gladwell
• 1776 – David McCulluogh
• Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) – Christopher Paolini
• French Women Don't Get Fat: the Secret of Eating for Pleasure – Mireille Guiliano
• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed – Jared Diamond
• On Bullshit – Harry G. Frankfurt

There's more to a book than what's written inside.  And let's be honest – we all judge books by their covers.  Do not deny it.  It seems that several people have taken book cover criticism to a new level, and their collections on the web provide many laughs and even a little insight. 

Bad Book Covers

An internet entity known only as Punk Rock Penguin has put together her (his?) collection of 70 hideous book covers – and some mighty scary titles, too.  PRP provides some snarky commentary for each title.  Just a sample:

• The Licking Valley Coon Hunter's Club
• Touch of Fancy
• Beyond the Time Barrier

Worst romance Novel Cover Contest

2002, 2003, 2004

What is it about romance novels that make them so easy to poke fun at?  Could it be the ridiculous cover art that seems to adorn the majority of them?  Each year All About Romance makes their selections for the best romance cover art and the worst.  Again, this site is full of snarky commentary to go along with the year's winners.  I can't wait for the 2005 results!

Longmire Does Romance Novels

The internet is a wonderful place for finding obscure creative and humorous talent that would have previously gone unknown to the world.  Mr. Longmire is just one of those people – and his talent for mocking romance novel covers will keep you coming back for more when you need a good laugh.  Though this isn't really a list of books you might want to read, I couldn't help but to add it here.  My favorite titles have to be The Legend of the Totally Lost Mountie and Lord of the Hissy-fit.

The 12 Dumbest Covers of American Comic Books

The 25 All Time Greatest Covers of American Comic Books

Atlas Comics of Norridge, Illinois, has compiled their selection of the best and worst comic book covers of all time.  From their introduction to the collection:

The comic book cover--along with her stylistic antecedent, the Pulp cover--is one of America's most instantly satisfying pictorial entertainments. Precisely because of their need to appeal to an unsophisticated audience, they are often shocking, lurid, exciting, powerful, grotesque or titillating. As a result they elicit an immediate response from the reader, one which eschews the intellectual reaction so often required of other visual arts.

Compiling these lists must have been quite a feat!  Most of the covers are older, from the 40's and 50's.  Publishers relied much more on the cover art to sell their comic books than they do today, and thus focused more on producing exciting artwork.  Of course, as you can see with the worst covers, they weren't always successful!

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For the last ten months, I've been sharing with you many books that I've enjoyed reading, either recently or even when I was young.  Rather than rehash the same information, I decided to get some input from my family, friends, and coworkers about the best books they read in 2005.  I asked for dislikes, too, but the consensus is most people don't finish books they don't like.  No surprise there – time is valuable!  Each of our guest reviewers provided me with their thoughts, and aside from minor editing I've left them as is.  Enjoy!

Carter, Library Public Services Associate

Memory of Running by Ron McLarty – Friendless alcoholic Smithy Ide considers himself a loser until a tragic family event prompts him to set off on an epic cross-country bicycle journey that may change his life.  You will laugh, cry, and maybe even cheer as Smithy journeys toward possible redemption.

Charlie, Currently free from the fetters of employment

Breakup by Dana Stabenow - Kate Shugak is an Alaskan Aleut.  She is the former agent of the state's District Attorney's office, but has resigned to lve in the bush near her extended family.  When spring comes to Alaska and the ice starts to break up, madness sets in.  Grizzlies, moose, neighbors and murderers all run amok and star in a rioutous romp with distinctively black overtones.

Chris, Small Business Owner

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin – when I read it, and it took me three times to get through it, I felt like I'd been hit in the face with a tree branch that nobody had managed to scrape the bark off of.  I felt something raw and visceral, believable and obscene, and for whatever reason I found that place to be home.

Lisa, Library Public Services Associate Substitute

White Trilogy by Ken Bruen – I discovered this author through a recommendation of a co-worker.  What a find this was.  Set in Galway, Ireland, Jack White is a Private Investigator who uses his unique insights and experiences to solve crimes.  The pure Irishness of the conversation in these titles is a treat, though one doesn't need a special dictionary to get through it.  The chapters are short and snappy while totally riveting.  With many twists and turns, Bruen shows why he is beloved of his fellow mystery writers such as Ian Rankin and their peers.

Marie, Library Public Services Associate

Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith – follows the exploits of a German Philology professor – need I say more?  Hilarious.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo – the story of a smaller than average mouse with extraordinary skills:  he's brave, enjoys music, and he can read!  When the princess (whom Despereaux loves) is kidnapped, Despereaux must save her.  This is a wonderful story about love, perfidy, forgiveness, and soup.

Hated:  The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve – let's just put society as it relates to women back 100 years.  There is a big difference between forgiveness and being a doormat to your man.  Drudgery.

Nolan, Middle School Student

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – This book shows our future if we don't so something about technology soon.  It's a creepy book, yet quite realistic.  The lesson is don't watch TV too much, and that books are a good thing.  I loved it!

Sydney, Web Writer

Promiscuities by Naomi Wolf - Naomi Wolf has taken an anecdotal approach to evaluating the secret history of female desire with her book, Promiscuities. Through conversation with her friends and by telling her own coming of age story Wolf reveals the winding history of female sexuality through time. The bulk of anecdotal experience is centered in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, circa 1969. However, she does cover many historical references to female sexuality and the prevailing social standards regarding women and sex. There is a lingering fear that surrounds the word "sexuality" and even more so around the world "promiscuity." I found, though I grew up more than 20 years later, most of her experiences were comparable to my own experience growing up in America. Feminism. AIDS. Media. All these things have impacted they way we look at sex. And in effect, have left huge gaps of confusion when it comes to morality and spirituality in a society where women are both lauded and debased for expressing sexuality.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Newsweek billed it as "A love story of astonishing power and delicious comedy," from the back cover of the book. It is a love story, but not in the conventional sense. It is an unrequited love story, as the theme of love unreturned surfaces time and time again through out the story. It is the story of a woman pursued from the first buds of puberty to the sour smell of old age by one man. For fifty-three years, seven months and eleven days and nights he does nothing but obsess over the woman. Marquez writes with so much detail that, while the story does move forward, it seems to trudge along. Also, the primary characters were weak, failing and somewhat despicable. However, their faults were familiar, and in seeing myself in their foibles I fell in love with them. This book was thick, descriptive, and full of nooks and crannies. It leave you feeling pushed over by the wonder and sorrow of love. "With her Florentino Ariza learned what he had already experience many times without realizing it: that one can be in love with several people at the same time, feel the same sorrow with each, and not betray any of them. Alone in the midst of the crowd on the pier, he said to himself in a flash of anger: 'My heart has more rooms than a whorehouse.'"–pg. 270

Toni Kay, Library Public Services Associate and Page Supervisor

Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham – This book is actually collection of three novellas, all tied together by the poetry of Walt Whitman.  They take place in the past, the "sort-of" present, and the future, yet each has the same set of characters.  Very different than anything I've read, and as good as The Hours, also by Cunningham.

For my part, I'd have to say the best books I read this year were Magyk, Septimus Heap Book One by Angie Sage (children's fiction), Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling (fiction), and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (nonfiction); each reviewed in previous month's columns.  I'm looking forward to a new year of good books and can't wait to share my finds with you.

Due to changes over at Subter.com, this last column I wrote was never published there.  I'll be reincarnated in another form beginning in February of 2006.  See you then!

The Internet reminds me of a giant loose-leaf notebook, with billions of pages.  Every day new pages are added to the notebook, and old pages fall out.  When you open the notebook you might find an old favorite, maybe a random oddity or gem, or even something horrible.  Occasionally you find that one of your favorite pages has fallen out, never to be seen again.  Some of the pages cross-reference other pages, sending you on a treasure hunt for new information, and every now and then you come across a page that just keeps unfolding outwards, bigger and bigger. 

Considering the sheer size of the notebook, how is it we manage to find anything useful, and keep hold of it when we do?  It seems to me it would be very unwieldy, hard to hang onto without fumbling and dropping all over the place.  Do web pages blow away in the wind?  Maybe.  I always wonder what happens to them when they disappear.  Perhaps some careless user let the page slip through their fingers when a large gust of wind came by…

What can be found on the Internet, and how do we find it?  With a little bit of effort, nearly anybody can create a web page, thus the wide variety and high number of offerings we face.  If you take away the business sites, the major corporate sites, and all of the other "professional" sites, you're left with an interesting mish-mash of education, entertainment, and personal obsessions.  The Internet provides an amazing medium for the average guy or gal to be creative, be serious, or be crazy.  I'm constantly amazed at what people will take the time to do, whether it be make funny little cartoons, or build large collections of esoteric information.

Much of what we find is actually introduced to us by friends or acquaintances.  How often have you gotten an email specifically sent to share a website that somebody else thinks you'll like?  Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find and share the gems of the Internet.  As mentioned earlier, websites will direct you to more websites in a never-ending link fest.  One can spend hours following links – just start off reading one blog, and click away at the links they share with you.  You never know where you'll end up!

Since I've been using the Internet, I've managed to gather an interesting collection of websites representing many facets of what cyberspace has to offer.  With billions of pages to choose from, obviously my collection is just a tiny speck in the online universe.  Maybe you've seen some of these websites, and maybe you haven't.  Either way, I'd like to share some of my favorites with you this month.  If you like them, share them with your friends, and keep the cycle going!

SHARING

Library Thing – Catalog you own book collection!

http://www.librarything.com/index.php

What bibliophile hasn't dreamed of somehow organizing and cataloging their personal book collection?  Liar.  Of course you have.  The only problem is the amount of work required, right?  Well procrastinate no longer – you can now very easily keep track of the books you own right on the Internet!  It couldn't be any simpler, either.  To sign up, just type in your user name and a password, then you're off and running!  To add a book, just search by title, author, or keyword – click on the book and voila!  Instant library.  If the search doesn't bring up your title, you can add the book manually or import the information from another location.  The fun doesn't end once you've added your titles.  The next step is tagging them, much like you might your photos on Flickr.  That's right – you can add whatever descriptive keywords you want to your library!!!  No bizarre cataloging rules necessary, though you can use them if you like.  The user interface for editing your library entries seems to be fairly user friendly, and in some cases you can change the way items are displayed for your editing purposes.  You can add reviews for each book too.

Not only can you build your own library – you can look at everyone else's library too!

Photo Friday

http://www.photofriday.com/

If you like taking photos, or even just looking at interesting photos, then be sure to check out the Photo Friday Challenge site.  Each Friday a new theme is announced, and anyone that wishes to can post an entry.  Viewers may then vote on the photos they like best, and a small handful are highlighted as noteworthy entries.  No prizes for the winners; just the opportunity to share your photos with the world.  The number of entries differs each week, but I note that the trend is well over 500 most weeks.  The fun of this site comes in seeing how different people choose to interpret the week's theme, and if you're a photographer yourself, choosing a photo to submit.  Some past themes:  yellow, warmth, retro, massive, nerdy, rural, luscious…you get the idea.

Gypsy Journal

http://www.gypsyjournal.com/

Travelers love to write about their adventures, and love to read about other's experiences traipsing about the world.  Unfortunately, not everyone can be Rick Steves.  On the bright side, however, everyday travelers can post their adventures to the Gypsy Journal website.  Friends and family can track the whereabouts of their loved ones via this site.  Perhaps you're interested in traveling to a particular area of the world, and would like to read real-life experiences of other travelers – then this is the place to do it.  The site also provides travel tips, and a forum where fellow travelers can compare notes.

PostSecret

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

We all have secrets.  Sometimes, we long to tell those secrets, but don't know who to tell.  Now there is a place to tell your secret, in the form of an anonymous postcard.  Each Sunday a new batch of secrets is posted.  The images are both beautiful and touching, and you may find that you are not alone in your secret longings or feelings.  I wonder as I look at them, how the senders must feel when they see that their submission has been selected for all the world to see.  Relief?  Shame?  A sense of peace, perhaps?  The project has been so successful that there is now a book available, also called PostSecret. 

WORDS

Internet Anagram Server – I, Rearrangement Servant

http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html

"I hurl in a bag sir!"  Seasick?  No, it's an anagram for my online moniker, Librarianguish.  Or how about "I is hurling a bra," or "A bar gin, hi I slur."  The fun never ends when you type something into the Internet Anagram Server.  Amaze your friends – or laugh heartily at the anagrams their names produce.  This site is one of my favorites for simple entertainment and fun with words.  The anagrams don't always make sense, but sometimes the fun is in the absurdity of it all.  And the quantity – Librarianguish generated 31,090 different combinations!  Here's a few more from the Anagram Hall of Fame:

·        Heavy Rain? = Hire a Navy!

·        Tom Cruise = So I'm Cuter

·        Mother-in-law = Woman Hitler

·        Snooze Alarms = Alas! No More Z's

·        The Public Art Galleries = Large Picture Halls, I Bet

·        Da Vinci Code plagiarism trial = Voiced aim: grill parasitic Dan (from the recent news topical category of anagrams)

Word Spy
http://www.wordspy.com/

Interested in new words and the way language changes over time?  You'll probably enjoy poking around at Word Spy then.  In their own words –

This Web site is devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" or "sniglets," but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources.

The site's main page lists recent posts, with links to the top 100 words of the week (based on look-ups), and a list of subjects, in case you're not sure what you're looking for.  Word Spy is definitely a great place to keep up with new words you'd like to add to your vocabulary!

Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?vt

When I was in library school, we talked a bit about advances in Internet searching and display, to allow for a more visual way of doing things.  As time passes, I'm beginning to see more and more of this sort of thing, such as searching by color.  The Visual Thesaurus displays the results of your search in a graphical manner that allows you to see relationships between words that aren't as obvious in a traditional thesaurus.  The only drawback is this is a program that must be purchased for either desktop of online use!  Drats.  At least you can briefly test the thesaurus online and see how it looks.  Give it a try!  If you spend a lot of time looking for interesting words, the cost might be worth it.

The Phrontistery – Obscure words and Vocabulary Resources

http://phrontistery.info/index.html

In my very first column, I recommended a book called There's a Word For It, by Charles Harrington Elster.  The Phrontistery is the online equivalent to that book, for the true logomaniac that enjoys discovering new words.  Forthright, the host of the Phrontistery, has amassed a dictionary of over 15,000 rare and obscure words in his dictionary.  You can explore glossaries, or the compendium of lost words.  There are other treats on the site, including A Loquacious Location of Lipograms (writings that omit a certain letter), and a collection of interesting emails that readers of the site have sent in.  I will be the first to admit I was completely distracted by the emails.  I can't help it – they were the source of some head shaking, a bit of cringing, and many laughs.

Engrish.com

http://www.engrish.com/index.php

Sometimes other languages don't translate well into English, as you can see here at Engrish.com.  Mere words cannot describe this site – only images will do.

DO – IT – YOURSELF ART

ArtPad – Digital Canvas

http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/

Fancy yourself to be an artist?  Now you can try your skills out online.  No expensive supplies to buy; no toxic clean-up chemicals needed.  Just sit back and let your creative muse guide your mouse, as you paint your masterpiece.  When you're finished, you can replay it and watch it take shape before your eyes, or email it to all of your friends!

Typogenerator

http://www.typogenerator.net/index.php

The premise of this site is very simple – type in any text you'd like, and the generator searches images.google for the text, then combines it with found images and random effects to create a poster of your words.  Once the first poster has been created, you can keep or destroy the text style, colors, or background and try again.  I've created some very nice posters, my favorite of which is this one!

LUNACY

All of the above mentioned websites are fine and good, but I must admit that some of my favorite things on the Internet are also the strangest.  I'll leave off most commentary on the following sites – just explore and see for yourself!  Some of them are funny, some are creative, and some are downright freaky!

The Lord of the Peeps – Fellowship of the Peeps

http://lordofthepeeps.com/lotp/fotp.html

Peep Research – Library usage habits of Peeps

http://www.millikin.edu/staley/fluff/peep_research.html

Peep Research – how Peeps are affected by various change in conditions

http://www.peepresearch.org/

There seems to be an entire Internet cult devoted to the manipulation and dramatization of stories using those favorite Easter sugar blobs, Peeps.

Etiquette Hell

http://www.etiquettehell.com/content/eh_main/gen/eh_index.shtml

Think your relatives, coworkers, or acquaintances have bad manners?  Think again.  It could be worse.

Cheeky Squirrel Name Generator

http://www.cheekysquirrel.net/squirrelname/index.php

Name Generator Generator – a collection of many generators in one place!  Convenient.

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/

Hobbit Name Generator

http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/

Elvish Name Generator

http://www.chriswetherell.com/elf/

Vampire Name Generator

http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/

Not happy with your name?  Try one of these on for size.  There were numerous other generators to pick from; just type "name generator" into Google and you'll have hours of fun.

Industrious clock

http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/%7Eyugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/03/index.html

Somebody had to write all these numbers.  Then somebody programmed the site.  Wow.

5ives – Merlin's lists of 5 things

http://www.5ives.com/

An interesting collection of one person's "top five" lists.  Of everything.

Eugene Mirman -  the Marvelous Crooning Child

http://www.eugenemirman.com/

This site scares me.

1974 Weight Watcher's recipe cards

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

Bento Pictures

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msittig/bento/

Did people really eat this stuff?

Odd Pics

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Odd_Pics.html

Really strange things to look at.

As you might imagine, I could go on for a good long time sharing fun links with you.  However, the time is nigh to wrap up for another month.  I'd like to add a special thanks to Syd, who happened to share several of the above sites with me – I can't take all the discovery credit!

Beginning with this article, my column changed from being entirely book and information based to more of a general interest column.  I called it Secrets of the Broken Angel, named after an angel statue I had seen in the local cemetery.

Just the other day I opened a fortune cookie to find the following message ~

You will make many changes before settling satisfactorily

I thought it quite fitting, considering my plan to write about change for the first issue of the newly reincarnated Subter.  Before we go too deep into it though, let's dissect that fortune, shall we?

"You will make many changes"

Who writes these things anyway?  Of course I will make many changes – life is nothing but change!  It seems rather like a no-brainer on the surface.  Yet upon further consideration, I note that no time frame is specified.  Am I to expect several gradual, peaceful changes?  Or a number of extreme, gut wrenching changes that amount to a total life makeover in a shorter time period?  Either way, changes will occur.  Of that I am certain.

"before settling satisfactorily."

This implies some type of ending to me, or even a compromise of some sort.  The idea of a soft landing into a nice fluffy life sounds appealing on the one hand, but once there, then what?  Wouldn't life be dull if nothing ever changed?  I certainly think so.  The beauty of a fortune cookie fortune is that it makes us feel good about something, if you don't think too hard about it.  Ultimately this fortune predicts a happy ending.  Isn't that really what we're all trying to achieve?

Change.  What's the big fuss about, anyhow?

Despite the knowledge that changes are inevitable, despite the knowledge that they may be good, the human tendency is still to resist.  I imagine this might hark back to the earliest days of man, when so much was unknown and the only drive was to survive another day.  As long as life remained somewhat the same, survival was ensured.  But a change of any sort – bad storms, earthquakes, sickness, animal attacks, or even attacks by another group of people could mean a sudden end to life.  In short, change was associated with bad situations, and a fear of change developed deep in the core of humanity.

Fast forward to 2006.  The extreme changes mentioned above are still very real possibilities in today's world (though you might have to really go out of your way to be attacked by an animal).  Hurricanes, tsunamis, avian flu, terrorism – just read the headlines and you'll see people face these uncertainties every day.  Sometimes in just a flash, lives are disrupted and people are forced to change everything about the way they think and what they do.  Survival is the only thing that matters.  Even if we are not directly involved, we are still affected deeply by the suffering other people experience.  "It could have been me or my family," we think.  Thank goodness it wasn't – this time.  Next time we might not be so lucky, and there lies that ancient fear in the core of our being.

Change and fear go hand in hand.  We fear the disruption change brings, and we fear the unknown future.  You've heard the adage, FEAR = F*** Everything and Run?  Recently a friend shared her definition of fear, which I believe is a much better way to view it.  FEAR = False Evidence Appears Real.  How often are our fears based on what we think we know, and how often are those "facts" off base?  If you're anything like a normal human, I'm guessing you've experienced this more than a few times in your life.  Our personal biases and opinions become facts in our minds, and we imagine the worst possible outcomes before we really know what is going on.  Perhaps we should take a step back when we start to feel the fear, and evaluate the situation.  Easier said than done, I know, especially when emotions start to run high.  Try it though, you may find that with practice it gets easier.

Change is bad, right?  Not always, and we know this.  Yet we resist and push back and avoid and try to hide.  It's scary to move forward without knowing where you'll land.  It's less painful to stay in the shells of ourselves as we are, than to step into the unknown.  We act as if change is something that only happens to us, rather than something we have control over.  It is true, many changes happen without warning, even small changes.  What we do with those events, however, is completely in our control.  The way we react, the actions we take, or don't take.  It is totally up to us.  Only you will know the right thing to do, as long as you don't succumb to your fears and the fears of those around you.  Need I mention that we are so easily swayed by the fears of others?  People love to share their fears with others; nobody wants to be alone with their fear.  Fear is contagious.

Consider this – we fight change, yet we all want it.  We want the world to change, we want our families to change, we want our jobs to change, we want ourselves to change.  We want it so badly, in fact, that we do things like make New Year's resolutions to remind ourselves of the changes we want to enact.  The truth is the only thing we can really change is ourselves.  It might seem rather self-centered to focus on ourselves so much, but if we cannot manage our own lives how can we possibly expect to make a difference in the lives of others and in the world at large?  Maybe the key is to focus on ourselves in a meaningful way, to learn what it takes to be a better person.  It probably doesn't mean buying a nicer wardrobe, though that could be one piece of your personal puzzle.  What it more likely means is evaluating our thoughts, beliefs, how we interact with other people.  It might mean checking that our actions are in line with our beliefs, and that what we say isn't just lip service to a nice idea.  When we find something we don't like in ourselves, our duty is then to change it.

But change is hard!  Of course it is, sometimes.  So is staying the way you are, because if you don't make changes how will you know there isn't a better way to be?  You won't.  It takes work to change, no one should think otherwise.  It may be painful to admit things about yourself, but once you do, it will be easier to release those things and move forward.  We all must do it, fighting it will only make it more difficult.  Make your choice – progress or struggle – it's up to you.

Imagine a world where all humanity strives to better itself every day.  I know it can be difficult, when so many things seem out of control and so many people seem filled with hate and despair.  It may seem pointless and futile to fight the tide of badness.  But if you don't, who will?  If I don't, will you?  What about that woman you saw on the bus, will she?  Or that family you waited on the other day, will they?  I have an idea – let's make a pact.  I promise to fight the tide.  I hope that you will join me, and bring your friends and family.  It won't be an easy job, but it's more important than anything you could imagine.

The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual – for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged ultimately won or lost.

M. Scott Peck

********************

So ends the first installment of Secrets of the Broken Angel, and so begins a year of change for me.  I'm expecting 2006 to be a year full of changes, and I've promised myself to strive for growth.  Rather than approach the year with dread and apprehension, I'm looking forward with excitement.  Well, mostly, as I'm not immune to the intrusion of a little fear now and then.

Subter has changed, and so has my column.  Previously I wrote about books and reading in Bibliomancy.  Now I'll be writing on any topic under the sun, stretching myself to express honestly and without fear.  It feels different already, and I like it.

2006 will be a year of creative growth for me as well.  Last year, quite by surprise, I discovered that I really enjoy photography, and beyond that, I seem to have an eye for interesting photos.  I look at the world a little differently now, and see things I never noticed before.  I visit new places with my eyes open, and I look forward to sharing some of the things I see with you as well as my writing.  Who knows, some of my photo expeditions might just open up a new train of dialogue, as I look at the world around me.

The title of my column, Secrets of the Broken Angel, is inspired by a special funerary statue at the local cemetery.    There is something about her that speaks to me, and I believe she is full of secrets we'll never know.  I'm drawn again and again to her expressive beauty, and the kind love in her face.  She reminds me of what is good in the world, and that there is hope after all.

Can We Ever Really Know what it's Like to be Somebody Else?

Every so often, we read or see something that opens our eyes to the wider world.  Lately I've been reading a book that really got me thinking.  Not like that's an unusual thing, but I started thinking in some different directions than I most usually do.  Have you ever stopped to consider how different other people's life experiences are from your own?  More often than not, it's easy to be caught up in our own doings and limit our focus to the world closest to us.  Sure, we watch the news or read the newspapers, and have a decent idea of what's going on here and there in the world – but do we ever really think about what other people might be feeling and experiencing?

The book I'm reading is called Bury Me Standing, by Isabel Fonseca.  Fonseca spent a great deal of time in the early 1990's with European Gypsies, also commonly known as the Roma.  In the first section of the book, she lives with a group of Albanian Roma, who, compared to some of the people she meets later in the book, are fairly well off.  I was struck immediately by the fact that the matriarch of the family was only 44 years old (just a mere three years older than me).  This woman was already a great-grandmother!  Roma commonly marry very early, around the age of 13 or 14, and begin having children right away.  They then begin a life of tending to their families – feeding, cleaning, and making sure their needs are seen to day after day.

What were you doing when you were 13?  I seem to recall some angst-ridden years that we Americans call junior high, or middle school.  We worried about whether our friends really liked us, and if we could ever hope to get the attention of that cute guy or girl, and why, why did we have to get a pimple now?  The last thing on our mind was getting married and wishing to have a child in the first year of marriage so we wouldn't be sent back to our family in shame.  In America, for the majority of people, at age 13 we still have several years of school, and in effect, childhood, before we're required to grow up.

Not only do the Roma begin their adult life much earlier than most of us, they have also spent centuries as a hated people.  Why is that?  I've been trying to piece it together in my mind as I read the book.  To me, it seems just ridiculous that an entire group of people should be hated so much, just because of who they are.  Hatred against the Roma is so severe, that in 1689 the kings of both Denmark and Sweden decreed they should be put to death.  Hunts were conducted, in which the Roma were chased down as wild animals.  I suspect that part of the hatred stems from their indifference.  They are not interested in assimilating with the rest of society, and others are resentful of that.  They don't have a homeland, and don't really want one (not that anyone would consider their right to one).  They have the desire and ability to be completely self-sufficient among themselves, except for some economic dealings with the outside world.  Ultimately, the Roma just want to be left alone.  Yet they have been persecuted, murdered, and discriminated against again and again.  It is as if the world has chosen them as a scapegoat, so they might not feel so badly about themselves.

Have you ever been that hated?  Maybe, but I suspect not.  Can you imagine your whole neighborhood under attack, homes burned out and people chased away, based on the unfortunate actions of one or two people?  There will always be individuals that commit crimes, but the idea that an entire community should be attacked because of one person's poor judgment, is unfathomable.  In Romania, as late as the 1990's, angry villagers attacked Roma settlements just because one or two Roma men committed a crime.  The government did nothing to prevent the attacks, and church leaders were responsible for organizing them.  It makes no sense, but it happens.  We are so fortunate here in America.  Even when things seem their worst, chances are incidents as extreme as those that occur in Eastern Europe won't happen. 

The vast difference between people's life experience becomes very clear when we compare two cultures that are so unlike each other.  But does it really take an extreme example to point out that every human on earth has a unique, but valuable experience?  It shouldn't.  You might recall the game where several people watch an enactment of a crime or accident.  Afterwards, they are asked to describe the scene.  Even though they've seen the exact same thing, they don't see the same thing.  Each person may focus on a particular detail – the victim may remind them of somebody they like or dislike, or perhaps they themselves were involved in a similar event and have strong emotions tied to their own experience.  The important thing to understand is that each person brings the history of their own life to each new experience, and we can't really know what it is like for them.  The danger is we try to judge people and their reaction to events based on our own experiences, and forget that they are not like us.

We have a tendency to romanticize cultures or ethnic groups other than our own.  Gypsies, Native Americans, the Irish (everybody wants to be Irish, especially on St. Patrick's Day), and many others become the target of our wishful thinking.  Heck, we even look wistfully back on earlier eras of American history and think that somehow, things were better then than they are now.  I'm guilty of it, I won't deny it.  Ever since I was young I have wished fervently that I had been a pioneer on the Oregon Trail.  I know in my heart that it was a difficult life and the chances of survival were much less than today, yet I believe that it would have been simpler, and some ways easier than much of the life we lead today.  I believe though, that as we idealize the "other" we tend to forget that every individual in those cultures faces or faced a daily struggle of experience and survival outside of our warm comfortable ability to comprehend.

As humans, we become acquainted with or close to many people during our lifespan, but can we ever really know what it is like to be somebody else?  Ultimately, at the deepest levels, I don't believe we can.  But we can have compassion and understanding for people, because they undoubtedly feel and experience similar things to ourselves.  We all feel love, joy, anger, jealousy, and pain – thus we can empathize with others who go through good and bad times.  It isn't necessary to know the details, it is enough to know that all of us share a range of emotions brought on by the experiences in our lives.

This brings me to a second thought – despite the difference in experience, and because we share the same emotions, we must value each person equally.  This is a very difficult thing for many people to swallow, as is so painfully clear throughout history and in today's world.  It doesn't mean we have to like everybody – far from it.  It does mean we must acknowledge that we humans don't all think alike or act alike, and that's okay.  Some people might call it tolerance, but I think a better term is respect. 

There is a website, and now a book, called PostSecret.  You may or may not be familiar with it, but I would encourage you to visit the site or read the book.  People send anonymous postcards with their deepest secrets to Frank Warren, the curator of the project, and he posts a new selection to the site each Sunday.  The cards show people at their most vulnerable, yet safe in anonymity.  I suspect that you may find some of your own emotions or secrets there – which just proves the point that despite our differences, we are all still very much the same.  We can know others just enough – even strangers – to find compassion and empathy in our hearts.  And, if we can each do this every day, perhaps we might be able reverse the trend of hatred and hostility so prevalent in our world today.

Like it or not, humans are competitive creatures by nature.  Just look at some of the most popular things in American culture today.  Millions of people live and breathe for NASCAR – a "sport" in which people drive supercharged automobiles in circles for hours, burning up the earth's dwindling resources at a breakneck pace.  Recently, Texas Hold'em Poker has become all the rage.  Professional card sharks meet for a battle of wits, bluffing skills, and fancy mirrored sunglasses to see who will walk away with exorbitant sums of money for a few hours of matching up numbers and shapes.  Finally, we have the Iron Chef competition.  Two chefs face off in a frenzied flurry of slicing, dicing, barked orders to abused underlings, and ingredients that you and I will never serve in our homes in an attempt to create the most delectable meal and impress the taste buds of a small panel of judges.

I say fie on them all!

The only competition I'm interested in watching these days is mixed martial arts (MMA), or as it is commonly known in the U.S., ultimate fighting.  Well, I also enjoy a good demolition derby, but we'll save that topic for another day when we know each other a little better.

Let's get back to fighting, shall we?

At this moment, you're probably scratching your head in confusion and wondering how a peace-lover like me can condone any sort of fighting.  Allow me to share some of my thoughts with you – I think a short question and answer session is in order for this portion of our discussion, just to get the ball rolling.

17. What exactly is mixed martial arts?

1. Mixed martial arts, or MMA for short, is a comprehensive sport that combines all varieties of martial arts (ju jitsu, kick boxing, etc.), striking, and grappling.  Competitors must be adept at more than one style of fighting in order to excel in MMA.

17. Isn't MMA essentially a violent free for all, just shy of a gladiator match?

1. No!  Competitors must adhere to a strict set of rules set out by the sponsoring association.  In the early days of MMA, there were fewer rules than there are today.  However, as the sport has evolved, more rules have been put into place to ensure the safety of the fighters and to create a very professional, legitimate sport.  In fact, no one has ever died from participating in a sanctioned MMA match – which is more than can be said for boxing or NASCAR.

17. Isn't there a lot of blood?

1. Yes, there is.  It happens sometimes when people strike each other forcefully; it cannot be avoided.  However, it usually isn't as bad as it looks – even small cuts on the head can bleed profusely, creating the illusion of massive injury and carnage.  In any case, the referee and fight doctor do not hesitate to stop the fight if the cut is above the fighter's eye, which can impair vision and create a hazardous situation for the fighter.  By far the bloodiest fight I've ever seen was the match between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, on the final episode of The Ultimate Fighter (season one).

17. I'm still a little confused – just why is it you like to watch MMA?

1. In my opinion, MMA is about as pure a sport as you will ever find.  Each fight consists of two men, with very little equipment – just four-ounce gloves and hand wraps to stabilize the hand in most cases.  They meet each other in a ring or the octagon (depending on which fight circuit you're watching), with a referee to oversee the match.  Fights consist of three or five five-minute rounds, and the fighters must have the skill to either submit or knock out their opponent, or the stamina to outlast them and win by the decision of the judges.  Rather than rely on protective equipment, a ball, or some other thing outside of themselves, the fighters are on their own.  If they don't train hard enough, have an off night, or even just find their head at the wrong end of their opponent's fist or foot, they won't win.  It's as simple as that.  Oh – did I mention the fighters are cute, too?  I can't neglect that very important fact!

I didn't just start watching MMA spontaneously one day on my own – I live with a man who is probably one of the world's greatest MMA fans.  He's been watching fights for as long as I've known him, and by default then, so have I.  To be perfectly honest, I've surprised myself with just how much I enjoy watching the fights, and as I continue to watch them, I learn more and more about techniques and the spirit of competition that drives these fighters to do what they do.

MMA has come a long way since the first official Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993, when sixteen men from different disciplines battled tournament style to determine which fighting style would prevail.  There were few rules (though groin strikes and head butts were discouraged), no weight classes, and the fights could go on for an undetermined length of time.  In fact, the very first UFC fight ever included the exciting moment when sumo wrestler Teila Tuli's tooth was seen flying from the octagon.  The original fight sponsors trumpeted the fact that the fights were essentially "no holds barred."  Consequently, ultimate fighting was banned in nearly all 50 states.

Today, the UFC is working hard to stake their place in the hearts of sports fans everywhere.  It appears that they are succeeding.  UFC 59 will take place on April 15^th, and various non-championship events can be seen regularly on Spike TV.  Ultimate fighting has even joined the ranks of reality television, with season three of The Ultimate Fighter about to begin.  Sixteen fighters in two weight classes are chosen to compete over the course of several weeks in team and individual events to win a coveted UFC contract.    MMA is growing in popularity, and has recently been sanctioned in the state of California – opening up a whole new set of venues for fights to take place.

Lest you think that this is just some sort of American fad, think again.  MMA is hugely popular in Canada, Japan, Eastern Europe, and Brazil as well as the U.S.  Japan has its own fighting circuit, called Pride Fighting Championship.  The rules are slightly more lenient, the fighters compete in a smaller ring (as opposed to the UFC octagon), and in my opinion, the fighters seem to be just a bit more tough and scary.  There are plenty of Americans fighting in Pride, but the overall national makeup of the fighters includes many Russians, Brazilians, and Japanese competitors too.  Several of today's champions in both Pride and the UFC are Russian and Brazilian.  Andrei Arlovski (Belarus) holds the current heavyweight title in the UFC, Fedor Emelianenko (Ukraine) holds the Pride heavyweight title, and Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) holds the Pride middleweight championship.  As MMA is evolving, so are the fighters.  Every one of these champions, and most of their challengers, are skilled in a variety of fighting disciplines.  They must be able to strike, kick, and grapple.  Though fighters generally have strengths and weaknesses, gone are the days when a fighter would know only one fighting style.  Without flexibility and adaptability, a fighter will be crushed.  There is no alternative.

So – where does this leave us?  I've shared a few of my thoughts about fighting, and a bit of factual information as well.  Yet, I feel as if I've only scratched the surface.  Despite my enjoyment in watching grown men battle with each other until one is knocked out or can no longer intelligently defend himself, I am still unequivocally for peace.  How can this be?  In my mind, if willing participants wish to meet in the ring to test their strength, stamina, and will – so be it.  If they wish to strike, kick, and take each other to the ground – so be it.  It is far preferable to the madness we call war that is far too often the way in which disputes are settled.  Imagine if differences between countries were settled by a meeting between the best fighters in the land, instead of a war involving thousands of people, many of whom have little or no interest in the petty politics between world leaders.  Imagine if the leaders themselves had to meet in the ring to settle their issues.  The world might just be a very different place than it is today.  Fighting is an outlet that is too often stifled.  Don't get me wrong – I'm not for people just running around beating up on whoever they please.  It's very clear to me that that method doesn't work on a small scale or a big scale.  But when two people wish to face off with only their own bodies to work with – so be it.

Amadan – Stout Irish Music!

March is now upon us, and that can only mean one thing – time to gear up for St. Patrick's Day!  If you're of Irish descent, there's no question that you've been looking forward to this day since last March 18^th.  If you're not Irish, at least you can pretend to be on the 17^th.  St. Patrick's Day is a chance for everyone to tip back a Guinness, eat some corned beef and cabbage, wear green, and most importantly listen to some of the world's finest music.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are blessed with one of the best Celtic punk bands you'll ever have the great fortune to see.  I won't lie – I have a completely biased opinion of Amadan, I know them all personally, and consider them to be friends.  That said, even if I only knew their music, I'd have nothing but good things to say about them.  *End of official disclaimer.*

The name Amadan comes from the Irish-Gaelic colloquialism meaning fool, or idiot.  The band members are neither, however – they are a group of highly talented and creative boys that love to share their music with an ever-growing group of fiercely loyal fans.  Amadan fans are so loyal in fact, they have been known to drive hundreds of miles to see a show.  Repeatedly.  Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

The six members of Amadan blend their musical skills flawlessly into the whole.  Drummer Mike Morrow and bassist Kevin Pardew tirelessly keep the cadence and provide the legs that keep the band marching on.  One arm of the band is fiddler Naoyuki Ochiai, whose fast and furious bowing never ceases to amaze.  The other arm is Andy Gross, didgeridoo player extraordinaire.  That's right – a didgeridoo, which adds an exotic touch to the sound of the band.  Jeremy Bauer can be thought of as the nervous system of the band, with his high-energy penny whistle, banjo, snare drum, and vocals.  Finally, Eric Tonsfeldt – guitarist, lead vocals, and primary song-crafter is the skeleton around which the rest of the parts thrive.  And the heart and soul of the band?  The combination of the six band members and their fans, which together drive the living breathing creation that is Amadan.

Amadan has so far released two CD's, Sons of Liberty (2002), and Hell Bent 4 Victory (2004).  Both are a combination of original songs, traditional Irish tunes, and an occasional cover tossed in for good measure.  Amadan sings songs that bring to mind Irish revolution, pirates at sea, blue collar sensibilities, and long nights of drinking and camaraderie.  Their songs evoke a spirit of not backing down when the world seems to be against you, no matter the difficulty.  Choosing a favorite tune or two from Amadan's repertoire is almost impossible – every song is as good as the last.  However, since it is traditional to steer any new listeners in a direction that will get them off to a good start, let me point you thus…

Listen to all of their songs!!!  Fortunately, several of the songs from each CD can be heard on the Amadan website.  I might suggest either "Johnny Jump Up" or "Black and Tans" from Sons of Liberty.  As for Hell Bent 4 Victory, give  "Another Brass Rail" or "August 24^th, 1688" a try.  If I were forced to choose a favorite (thank goodness nobody has yet asked me to), I would have to select "Rhyme of the Remittance Man."  Amadan has deftly blended the poetry of Robert Service with the best of their music – leaving me in sheer happiness every time I hear it.  What I'm getting at here, is if you listen to Amadan, you won't be disappointed.  Both CD's are fantastic – the second rocks a bit harder than the first, but both are top notch Celtic punk.

Currently, the boys are working on some new tunes, and Jeremy tells me they will debut a few next week at the big St. Patrick's Day festival in Portland.  They are set to record their next CD in July, and expect a release date sometime in the fall or early winter.  They've been away from the stage for a few months, and are bursting with energy for next week's performances.  I for one can't wait.

If you're seeking a quiet, calm experience – don't listen to Amadan.  But if you're looking for a high energy, dance your pants off fists in the air back against the wall shout until you're hoarse experience – you have arrived.

Amadan will be playing several shows in Portland, Oregon at the Kell's Irish Pub St. Patrick's Day festival, March 17-19 (2006).  If you find yourself in the area, stop in to the west coast's largest St. Paddy's event.  Music, food, ale and dancing – all in celebration of the man that chased the snakes from Ireland!

Amadan – Stout Irish Music

Kell's Irish Restaurant and Pub

Have you ever dreamed of finding hidden treasure – following a map to the secret location of valuable bounty?  Then you, my friend, are a prime candidate for the fairly new sport of Geocaching.  Perhaps the treasure you'll find really isn't very valuable, but the experience and exercise you'll get is.

What is Geocaching?

Someone hides a cache and logs the coordinates onto the website Geocaching.com.  You visit the site and make note of the coordinates, follow them with your GPS, and look around until you find the cache.  It's as simple as that.  Well, it's a little more complicated, but that's the process in a nutshell.

Who can be a Geocacher?

Anyone can participate in geocaching.  Young or old, active or sedentary.  Yes, I said sedentary, because many of the caches are located in urban areas or in areas of mild terrain.  Geocaching is a great activity for people looking for fun ways to exercise, other than going to the gym or plodding on the treadmill at home.  And the whole family can geocache together.  Kids love the suspense of the hunt and excitement of discovering the hidden treasure.

Where can I Geocache?

Almost anywhere!  There are currently 234,833 caches in 220 countries.  To find caches near you, just visit the website and type in your zip code.  No matter where you are, there are undoubtedly numerous caches just waiting to be found.  Caches have been hidden in cities and at the top of mountains, in parks and on private land.  Each cache log on the website provides information about the location, including ratings for terrain and difficulty (as in how easy it is to find once you get there).  You can choose to visit the caches that best fit your level of physical and searching experience.

What equipment do I need?

The only piece of equipment that you need to invest in is of course a global positioning system device, or GPS.  Entry-level GPS units can be purchased for under $100, however it's probably worth spending a little bit more to make sure you get some good features.  We use a Garmin eTrex  Legend, which can be found for under $150.  We can log our coordinates, track our travel time and distance, and even determine our average travel speed.  More advanced units have color screens and highly detailed maps, and can run well over $300.  Basic functions are easy to learn, and as with all technology it seems that kids catch on real quick.  In fact, you'll probably have a difficult time prying it out of your kid's hands to get a look at it yourself.

No other complicated equipment is needed to geocache, though you'll want to wear good shoes for walking or hiking, dress accordingly for the weather, and make sure you're properly prepared if you're setting out on a long hike.  An extra set of batteries is always a good idea, too, since a dead GPS is of no use.

How do I find a cache?

Once you've visited the website and selected which cache you'd like to visit, log the coordinates into your GPS.  You'll then be able to see how far away your destination is from your current location, and the direction you'll need to go to get there.  Start moving in that direction, and before you know it you'll practically be right on top of it.  That's when the real fun begins.  GPS units are only accurate to a certain point, so once you've reached the vicinity of your cache your task turns to looking around and finding the hiding spot.  Most caches are pretty well hidden, and some are downright stumpers!  Don't feel too bad if you aren't able to find a cache on the first try, though that doesn't happen too often.  After you've done a few, you'll start to think like the person that hid the cache, and it will get easier to spot even the most well hidden caches.  Part of the fun is being a stealthy sleuth, especially if the cache is in a high traffic area.  Geocachers are always wary of giving away their activities to non-geocachers, lovingly referred to as muggles.  Unfortunately, caches are occasionally stolen or vandalized.

What will I find in the cache?

It depends on the size of the cache.  Microcaches, as their name implies, are very small, so may have nothing more than a note explaining what it is.  There may be a piece of paper for you to sign to log your visit, but nothing more.  Most caches are bigger, however, and hold a variety of items.  You'll usually find a small notebook to log your visit, and some pencils or pens.  There are often a number of small items, or the treasure, if you will.  This could be anything from magnets to batteries, coins to gum machine toys.  Geocaching etiquette requires that if you take something, you leave something behind, and hopefully it's something of equal or better value.  Chances are you won't find any gold bullion, but you might find some nifty odds and ends.  If you're really lucky, you'll find a cache containing a travel bug or geocoin.  Travel bugs are metal dog tags; typically they are attached to something such as a small toy (Star Wars figure, koosh ball, etc.).  Geocoins are – well, coins.  They each have a serial number, and their travels can be tracked on the website.  If you take one from the cache, you are then required to drop it off in another cache to help it on it's way.

Anything else I need to know?

There are no doubt plenty of details I've left out here, but my aim is just to give you a quick introduction to geocaching.  I haven't covered hiding a cache, which I consider to be more of a 200 level activity that requires commitment, continued maintenance, and has its own set of etiquette rules.  Fortunately, there are websites and books that you can refer to if you're interested in learning more about geocaching.  The most important thing to remember is to get started, and have fun!

Resources

Geocaching.com

http://www.geocaching.com/

Also, check to see if there is a local geocaching group in your area.  Many states have associations with regular activities and opportunities for meeting other geocachers.

Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching – Jack Peters

Essential Guide to Geocaching, Tracking Treasure with Your GPS – Mike Dyer

Geocaching Handbook – Dave Ulmer

Garmin GPS units

http://www.garmin.com/outdoor/products.html#basic

Magellan GPS units

http://www.magellangps.com/en/gpsAdventures/outdoor/

Flickr!  The Greatest Thing Since…Before Flickr!

Oh how I swoon for thee Flickr!

I post my photos – faster – quickr

I am obsessed…all the people snickr

I'll take photos of everything

From a basket of wickr to a clock (called a tickr)

You cannot stop me!

And that is the kickr

Just try it yourself, there's no need to bickr

Be a camera clickr!

Whether you're a nose pickr, city slickr, or even boot lickr

Sharing photos is slickr with Flickr!

Remember the days when your neighbors would come home from their big vacation to Yellowstone, then invite you over for a slide show consisting of 500 out of focus shots of Old Faithful and the three bison they saw?  Or maybe you've known someone that pulled out the latest 15 photos of their three-month-old grandchild every time you ran into them at the grocery store.  You patiently looked at the photos, and told them how delightfully they captured the rising steam of the geyser or that their grandchild looks just like them.  You were being polite, and did your best not to offend them with your indifference.  People love to share their photos, and more than anything like the acknowledgement they receive when others look at them.  After all, it's an acknowledgement of their life; a validation of their existence. 

Today people love to share their photos more than ever.  As digital photography overtakes film as the most popular means of capturing the views of the world around us, the methods of sharing have changed dramatically.  People still print photos to send to friends and family, or to fill up photo albums and scrapbooks.  They might make a disc of their favorites and send that out.  However, online sharing of photos is probably the most satisfactory method of sharing large quantities – and Flickr has risen above all others as the best place to store and share photos.  I like to think of Flickr as an online scrapbook of sorts.

Flickr has become so much more than your average site to store photos.  In just two short years since it was launched it has become a major player in what is called Web 2.0, or the Living Web.  Very simply put, Web 2.0 is the new generation of websites that allow extensive input and collaboration between users – like Subter does!  Blogging, online link storage sites (del.icio.us), RSS feeds, and podcasts are all contributors to this new era of the internet.

What makes Flickr so great?  Why do people enjoy it so much?  You'd think it would be a simple matter of posting your photos, sharing a link to them with a few friends and family, and that's it.  That's not it at all.  Flickr has become an entire community of people that share an interest – photography.  Skills range from rank amateur to highly acclaimed professional and you'll find photos of just about everything you can imagine on Flickr.  And I do mean everything.  You'll want to be a little careful if you have fragile sensibilities or small children in the room while you surf around Flickr.  Mostly though you'll just find a wide variety of beautiful, funny, and touching photos from people around the world.  Not sure where to begin?  Start with the Explore page, where each day 200 photos are highlighted.  Once you start looking, you'll no doubt be sucked in by the beauty and creativity that abounds.

People are starting to notice the endless pool of talent on Flickr, as can be witnessed by the recent solicitation of photos for the new Washington State Tourism website by design firm LEVYsheckler.  Rather than hire professional photographers to go out and take photos, LEVYsheckler started a group on Flickr called SayWA and as the photos poured in, they selected many for use on the new site.  True collaboration here - real photos by real people showing the features of the state, and real money for those whose photos were chosen.  Indeed, I chose one of the photos for my March column by searching Flickr, contacting the photographer, and kindly asking his permission for use.  I anticipate that more of this type of collaboration will occur as people see what Flickr users have to offer.  It may or may not break any new world famous photographers, but it will give many amateurs the opportunity to share their work with a wider audience, and maybe even make a little bit of extra money along the way.

One reason that I find Flickr so appealing is the ease with which I can post photos to my blogs or other websites.  Flickr provides an instant blogging interface in which you can choose a photo, write your text, then voila!  One click and your post is live.  Several different blog services work with Flickr, including Wordpress, TypePad, Moveable Type, and Bolger.  If your blogging service doesn't interface directly with Flickr, no need to worry.  Each photo is resized automatically for you!  Depending on the size of your original photo file, you may have up to six sizes to choose from, beginning with a 75x75 square (perfect for most avatar requirements) and on up to the original.  For each size of photo you then have two link types to choose from – a static link, or a hotlink that leads back to your Flickr account.  I've found it especially useful again and again, as in the past I would resize my own photos, upload them to Photobucket, and then post them.  This is much easier.

Not only does Flickr provide built in applications for its users, more and more developers are creating practical and fun things for people to do with their photos.  On the practical side, the new internet browser Flock has a built in uploading interface for sending your photos to Flickr.  Just drag and drop your photos from your computer into the uploader, click send, and away they go.  I found the Flock uploader to be a bit quicker than Flickr's (and it didn't bog down my computer), though you can't pre-tag photos or put them into sets.  Certainly useful for small numbers of photos, and perhaps in the future they will expand capabilities.  As for fun fd's Flickr Toys can keep one busy for hours, creating everything from motivation posters to magazine covers to mosaics with your photos (and the photos of others).

You may have caught the implication from my poetic wonder above that I am somewhat obsessed with Flickr.  Yes, I will admit it is true.  While some folks spend their hours crafting a MySpace account, I on the other hand, obsessively check for comments on my photos, or to see if the order of my top 200 photos has changed.  Flickr is manna for statistics whores.  There.  I've said it.  If you concern yourself with how many people read or comment on your blog, for instance, you'll looooove Flickr.  They kindly keep track of your photostream visitors (I'm at 15,852 as of this writing), and the top 200 photos in four categories:  views, comments, favorites (other people marking your photo as a favorite), and interestingness.  As activity occurs on your photos, you can check in and see how they are doing.  But how, you ask, do you create activity on your photos?  Heh, heh, heh.  This can occur several ways.  Of course, if you are very fortunate, your photo will turn up on the Explore page and automatically have hundreds if not thousands of views.  Since this is fairly unlikely most days, the next best method is to collect lots of contacts (other Flickr users) and post your photos to as many different groups as possible.  As you travel around the site, you will undoubtedly come across other users whose photos you particularly like.  You can choose these people as contacts, and as they post new photos you will be able to view them in a constantly updated stream.  Likewise, as people mark you as a contact, they will see your photos.

The second way in which to increase traffic to your photos is by joining groups.  As you can imagine, there are groups for nearly every topic in the world, and if by some chance you can't find a group you can start one!  One of the biggest questions is do you find groups for the photos you have, or join groups that sound interesting and then take photos to fit.  I tend to do a little bit of both.  Standard topics like flowers and cats and dogs have groups, but you can also find slightly more esoteric things like moss or hinges represented.  Not strange enough for you?  How about Remains of the Meal or Dirty Water?  Other groups are based on themes, such as Beauty is Simple, and require definite creative effort on the photographer's part.  Still other groups have strict posting requirements – number of views/posts/comments – and don't you dare break those rules or the moderators will kick you out!  The funniest group I've found is Stick Figures in Peril – full of the craziest warning signs you'll ever see.  My favorite group, however, has to be the Monthly Scavenger Hunt.  Each month the moderators post a list of 20 items or themes for the participants to collect in images.  Group members can rate entries throughout the month (with a very slick voting program) and at the end of the month the top three photos in each category are posted.  Searching for the photos is fun, but the best part about this group is definitely the people involved.  They have been the friendliest, funniest, and all around most eccentric crew I've had fortune to run across on Flickr.  I fit in nicely.

I suppose more than anything Flickr appeals to both the voyeur and exhibitionist in each of us.  We can catch a glimpse into the lives of people around the world, provided freely for all to see.  At the same time, we can choose to share a glimpse into our own lives.  Perhaps it will help bring us just a little bit closer together as human beings.  Funny, isn't it?  People in all parts of the world love the same things.  They love their families, their pets, and the beauty of the world around them.  They take photos, and they want to share them with anyone that will take the time to look.  In the end, everybody just wants a little acknowledgement and validation.

Resources

Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/

All users may have a free account with Flickr, which allows them to upload 20MB of photos per month.  Only the top 200 photos will be displayed to viewers.  For a small fee of $24.95 per year, users may upgrade to a Pro account which allows unlimited uploads per month and unlimited ad-free storage and viewing.

Wikipedia

Web 2.0 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Flickr - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr

By the fifth of each month, I'm faced with the challenge of thinking of something new to write about.  Then, after deciding on my topic, I let it mull around in my head for a couple of weeks, until suddenly my deadline is nearly upon me and I find I must spit out something of interest.  So far, I think I've been pretty successful.  Even if I do tend to procrastinate, I enjoy the process and the outcome a great deal.  I love the feeling that my mind is working away to craft an interesting combination of letters and words, and when the time is right my fingers fly and everything comes together.

So what happens when I find myself busier than normal with work and life concerns, and the specter of "creativity from scratch" looms over me?  Easy.  I fall back on what I'm familiar with, to a place I know well – book reviews.  Only problem is, that requires that I actually read some books.  Fortunately, I have been rather successful at that endeavor lately, and have several to share with you.  It may seem odd that I have trouble finishing books, but working in a library sometimes creates an overload problem that leads to nothing being read at all.  I've been making an effort to change that, with decent success.  It seems that the more I read, the more I want to read, and before you know it I've finished (or at least read more than half of) several books.

At first, I thought the books I've read recently were just a hodge-podge of fiction and non-fiction, with no real thread tying them together.  Much to my surprise, as I thought about what I might have to say about these books, I realized that there is actually a strong connection between them.  They all have to do with being an outsider of some sort; characters or authors that just don't fit into society's idea of "normal."  That's not to say that we really know what "normal" is, or that there even is such a thing.  But somehow, we sense when something or somebody doesn't quite fit with the behavior of the masses, and as it turns out the experiences these folks have makes for some very interesting reading.

Deadwood, by Peter Dexter (1986)

There are certain times, places, and people in history that take on a larger than life mythical quality.  Deadwood, South Dakota, is one such place.  In the 1870's, Deadwood was one of the last bastions of true frontier anarchy – not yet part of the United States, but a destination for those seeking their fortune in gold that had been discovered in the hills that were previously set aside for the Indians.  The roughest of the rough traveled to Deadwood, and a thriving business of saloons, brothels, and gambling dens quickly sprang to life.  Many of the people in Deadwood had nowhere else to go, having been run out of more "respectable" locations.  One such pair that arrived in 1876 was William "Wild Bill" Hickock and his loyal friend Charley Utter, and trailing them was the notorious Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary).  The events of their next few months in Deadwood amount to a strange chapter in the history of the American West, and one that is still controversial in many ways.

I was prompted to read Dexter's Deadwood after watching the first season of the HBO series of the same name.  Although Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane were by far the most famous people that lived in Deadwood, their time there was either short (Hickock was murdered just a few months after his arrival), or sporadic (Jane came and went several times over the years).  Dexter chooses to focus his story primarily on Charley Utter, and what we find is a very loyal, sympathetic man who continually strives to follow his conscious in a town that seems not to have one of its own.  By following Utter so closely through the book, we get a glimpse into one man's life during a wild time in a wild place.  Most of the characters in Dexter's book actually existed, and there are records indicating what type of people they might have been.  However, so many fictitious accounts have intermingled with the truth that now it is difficult to tell just what the real truth might have actually been – even Wild Bill and Calamity Jane were both known to expound on the truth a bit, or at least not deny possible falsehoods about their adventures.  Nevertheless, since Deadwood and its characters have taken on mythic proportions, does it really matter any more?

Nature Noir, by Jordan Fisher Smith (2005)

Usually when we think of forest rangers, it brings to mind a romantic vision of youthful, uniformed men and women leading groups of eager tourists through beautiful parklands.  Smith shatters that vision with his account of 14 years as a law enforcement ranger along the American River in California, just outside of Sacramento.  The lands that Smith and the rest of his crew patrolled were essentially "throw away" lands, slated for inundation as soon the Auburn dam was completed.  As it stood, the dam was originally approved in the late 1950's, but due to a variety of delays it still wasn't built in 1986 when Smith started his tenure on the American River, and it still isn't built today.

Over the years, the 48-mile stretch of the American that Smith was responsible for had become home to many people living on the fringe of society.  Miners, drug dealers, and other transients found their place in the woods, and the rangers spent their time keeping the peace between the people and the forest.  In each chapter of the book, Smith recounts a particular incident in his career, including the tossing of a baby into the open window of a moving vehicle, an unsolved murder case, and the first human death by cougar in the state in decades.  As he tells his tales, he artfully weaves in the history of the ill-fated dam, information about the flora, fauna, and geology of the area, and musings on the clash of humans and nature as our lives encroach on what is left of the wild.  Despite the focus on the darker side of both nature and humanity, I found that Smith still has a sense of hope and wonder at the world around him. 

The Lost Soul Companion – a book of comfort and advice for black sheep, square pegs, struggling artists, and other free spirits, by Susan M. Brackney (2001)

I nearly missed this little gem of a book as it passed by me at the library recently.  Fortunately, I snagged it and brought it home.  It's small and short – just 150 pages – and one could easily read it in one or two sittings.  The book starts with a serious discussion of depression and suicide, as Brackney is no stranger to dark days.  Her advice – get help and don't give up, is simple, yet she shares it with such sincerity you can't but help take it to heart.  Even if you've never suffered from serious depression, her discussion of it is so candid you feel hopeful for her and others that do suffer.  Once past the most serious part of the book, Brackney presents a collection of stories and ideas that have helped her cope in a world that doesn't always seem very accepting of those of us that live on the outside edges of society.

Her advice can be summed up in a few simple ideas:

• Take care of yourself – physically, mentally, and financially
• Dream big, but accept that you may have to start small on your road to success
• Appreciate everything you have to the fullest, because you never know when it may be gone
• "Blow the stink off" when you need to, that is, take even a short trip to change your scenery and refresh yourself
• Be a playful soul, and don't be afraid to play a good prank now and then
• Find a cuddly pet

Even if you don't consider yourself to be a lost soul, there's no doubt a few pieces of wisdom here that you can apply to your own life.  If you're curious, visit the Lost Soul Companion website.

But if you are a lost soul, or even just wandering down a side road for a while on your way back to the mainstream of life, hopefully you'll find a bit of peace in one of these books.  I know I have.  Lose yourself in the stories for a while, or maybe find yourself – you never know what you may gain along the way!