I have tried several times to read what is ON MY SHELVES.  Generally, as a librarian, I have very little attachment to keeping books.  i like to read em and get rid of them.  But sometimes, they accumulate.  Usually this is because they are uncomfortably large or too heavy to bring places.  Sometimes I start em over & over again and get sidetracked. I also have a couple of good friends who have access to free books which they send to me.  And I have been very lucky to get a lot of awesome books on bookmooch.  So they’re accumulating.

But then E had a great idea–12 Books, 12 Months!  Because of my previous failures, I’ve only committed halfway.  if that goes well, maybe we’ll work on the next 6!  The rules, in case you want to join:

12 Books, 12 Months Challenge

• Pick 12 titles from your To Read Pile.  These should be titles you currently own in whatever format you prefer.
• Acquisition of other formats or translations is permitted.  So, if you have a paperback but want to read on your Kindle, you can get a Kindle copy.  If you have a library copy but want to buy your own, that’s kosher.  Heck, if you own a copy and want to check another out from the library, I’m not gonna stop you.
• Post your list in your public space of choice by September 1, 2010.  If you prefer not to post, you can just leave a comment with your list.
• Read all 12 titles between now and September 5, 2011.  Might as well tack on an extra long weekend at the end for cramming.
• When you finish a title on your list, post about it in your public space of choice.  If you prefer not to post, you can just leave a comment with your review.
• Once a month, I’ll post a round-up of the reviews posted from that month so that we all know what everyone else has read.

I’ll post my list here but my reviews will, as always, be on my goodreads page which feeds to facebook.

My list:

1. The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow: The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whitley.–This is preceeded by a biography which is one of the most interesting things I have EVER read.  So I’ve been dragging out actually getting to the diary which doesn’t sound as awesome. (bookmooch acquire)
2. Out of the Ordinary by Jon Ronson–Jon Ronson is one of my favorite authors but I started this book and HATED it.  So hopefully I can finish it. (bookmooch acquire)
3. My Booky Wook by Russell Brand–I LOOOOVE Russell Brand. This book is the opposite of what I expected and so I put it down. (free copy from friend)
4. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace–I 30% love/70% hate DFW but I haven’t read that much so I am hoping to up that percentage.  I find him jerkily demeaning of Midwesterners, something that fills me with rage. (bought at airport)
5. Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World by Trevor Paglen–I bought this book new, which I almost never ever do.  I love conspiracy weirdness and everything Paglen’s done.  I started this and it was way too….old man military for me.  But then we went on vacation near some of the bases mentioned and it revived my interest.
6. The Biggest Secret by David Icke–This is a crazy conspiracy theory book about how the world is controlled by lizards.  I am seeing Icke speak in October, so I should read it, finally.  (free copy from friend, free ebook copy dnlded)

So keep us honest! And join us–I know you have some books you could get rid of! And when you’re done, bookmooch em!

Hey anyone coming from the Juggalo lecture!

My original post is here.  Also a bit here.

ICP Listening Month will be covered at this blog or on this twitter.

If you want to contact me, email me or twitter @jennybento.

I am a completist. I watch tv shows in order. I collect every album from bands I like.  I listen to Prince for an entire month of the year.

And while I am preparing for a lecture about Juggalo Culture, I realized something.

October is totally going to be National ICP Listening Month.  Which I am taking liberties to abbreviate as NIPL month!  I hope someone will join me, but I somehow think it’s less likely than NaPriLiMo.

I have officially finished TEN SEASONS of L&O SVU in order.  I feel like this is some accomplishment.  Seasons 8 & 9 did very little for me.  Liv undercover?  Boring.  Stabler’s marriage?  I don’t care.  Season 10 picked up though.  The addition of a very (intentionally) annoying new lab tech was nice.

But the best part was the Season 10 Finale, “Zebras.”

Everyone has a favorite detective and mine is HANDS DOWN Munch!  This episode is ALL about conspiracy theorists and thus it is totally Munch’s bag.  Earlier this season Munch went “undercover” as a conspiracy theory loving hobo, and who thought we’d beat that?  This finale also involves Coney Island.  In the episode Belzer & Ice-T ride in a tiny car through a haunted house.  It’s the funniest thing ever.

So kudos to you L&OSVU! You sucked me back in!  Now just one more season and I am caught up.  Which SVU should I start on next?

awesome new word i just learned: Brailler (machine to write Braille) and also the verb “to Braille” as in “I Brailled the paper using that Brailler.”

Man: “She didn’t tell me she was my daughter.”

Benson: “When did you find out? The first time you had sex with her?!”

“Dating is for ugly people.” (teens hooking up online)

Every year after I moved out of my dad’s year he has forgotten my birthday.  I was his only kid.  Every year this pissed me off.  You can’t remember your ONLY CHILD and ONLY LIVING RELATIVE’s birthday?  He just didn’t find it important.  A few years ago I started to not care anymore. Sort of.  I guess I still cared, but I figured one year maybe he’d accidentally get it right and I should give up hoping for it.

Which is why today I bawled when I realized that my dad would never forget my birthday again.

I realized it would take a long time to feel better about my dad dying because I loved a lot of things about him; I never realized that the shitty things would also continue to make me feel bad.

Really,

Malcolm Forbes’ personal jet was named “The Capitalist Tool.”  It’s also the motto of Forbes Magazine.  That’s awesome.

Law & Order SVU Exchange:

“I was just trying to help her up!”

“With your…penis?”

————————————-

“that’s because i kicked her in between her whoring legs!”

————————————-

“You shook that baby!  You shook that baby!  You shook that baby!  You shook that baby, Drew, and then you got your rocks off!” (Shaken Baby Syndrome)

“Find the hand, find the perp.”

————————————-

“Well somebody touched Megan Rose with a cheese grater!” (foster kids)

————————————-

“So she buys him breakfast and he rapes her for lunch.”

I have recently begun watching law & order.  I had oddly never seen an episode, and I am really not the kind of person who can only see part of a show and enjoy it.  As a person without a tv or cable, this essentially guaranteed I would never see an episode.

Now that I finally have, I do love it, much like everyone else.  So I started watching it in order–from season 1.  I am currently watching the SVU one, which is wall to wall assault on women & children.  It’s odd that there’s a show revolving around sexual assault but that means people say hilarious things on the show extremely seriously.  Things that in any other contexts would not fly on tv are said completely in passing on the show.  So I am beginning a new series.  Wacky Shit Said on SVU (followed by the weird sex act theme of the episode). Today’s are:

Never trust a woman with a pulse (sex with women in comas)

She’s hot but schoolgirls aren’t my scene. (pedophilia)

Why would I mess with jailbait when I can get it with her moms? (pedophilia)

Your little tadpoles swam in all by themselves. (pedophilia)

In chicago that yoga studios really love puns. I’ve seen them a little bit elsewhere but never to this extent.  I mean here, they’ll go for a pun even if it’s a slam against their business, or makes them look way not serious.

My favorites are Om on the Range and Self Centered Yoga.

NaPriLiMo is quickly approaching in Feb. In case you don’t know, that means I only listen to Prince all next month.  I will actually be reporting on it this year, however, I realize not everyone wants constant Prince music updates.  So here’s your guide to the coverage:

• The Website — naprilimo.tumblr.com– will include updates
• The Twitter Feed — twitter.com/naprilimo
• The Facebook Event — for joiners
• The Email address –  naprilimo at gmail in case you want direct contact
• The Blip station — blip.fm/naprilimo i’ll hope to post a prince gem of the day
• My Last.FM station — Check up on me & keep me honest!

1. I got Jamba juice Cherry Berry Pecan oatmeal for a dollar.  I love oatmeal and this is the best.
2. I had my favorite lunch near work–turkey & bacon on cinnamon toast.  And someone else bought it.
3. The waitress gave us free ice cream at lunch.  And I got the chocolate kind while everyone else got sucky vanilla and strawberry.
4. I had a jillion really awesome, interesting conversations with people who are smart about metadata and my long term concerns about a data model. And everything was fixed and agreed upon.  We had several disagreements which were all interesting and based in actual concerns for a project, not petty work squabbles.  And people totally respected each other’s opinions.
5. I sent out all those thank you for coming to my dad’s funeral cards which felt like a little bit of closure.
6. I had tea with an aspiring metadata librarian and we geeked out about metadata.  And it made me realize what I’ve accomplished in the last few years. Go me.
7. I was told awesome rare beers would be delivered to me tomorrow at work.
8. I got around 5 awesome pictures when I usually have to try hard for one.
9. It was sunny for the first time in ages, and I realized my desk gets great light, making it the first desk I have ever had where a plant might survive.
10. The weather was perfect and beautiful.
11. I realized all of my coworkers are kind of awesome.
12. I finished a book and started a new one (which I always love doing).
13. Hopslam drops at my local liquor store tomorrow.
14. I made plans to see the movie adaptation of one of my favorite books tomorrow.
15. I did not have to use my AK.

A lot of people don’t understand how a librarian could be useful to sears.com.  But today a project I’ve been helping with should give you a little more insight into that.  Today we launched Marketplace, which allows people to buy over 10 million items from thousands of sellers through sears.com.  So now if you need to buy an album called Satan’s Kicking Yr Dick In, you should come buy it at Sears.com.  Want Letters to Penthouse? We got it.  Perhaps you are interested in the album “Fuck World Trade” by Leftover Crack.  You know where you can get it?  SEARSDOTCOM!

Perhaps you want to buy a pool, a trampoline, a bouncy castle, and a chainsaw. Perhaps you need live plants for your “hydroponics” project or rum flavored shampoo.  Or maybe you want someone to come clean your ducts without ever having to speak to another human.  Or you could get this sweet USSR flag patch (though, comrade, if you need to buy a patch to show you are hep to the cause, perhaps purchasing it on the largest capitalist websites on earth, perhaps you are misguided. though I will surely not stop you.)  I am categorizing all these things so you can purchase pretty much anything on sears.com.

Now I am going to buy balls and an inflatable hot tub so I can make a ball pit!

I read only 24 books this year–compare that to 59+ last year!  I suck!

19 non-fiction/79% (47 last year/-1% last year)

5 fiction/21% (12 last year/+1% from last year)

10 audio/42%  (16 last year/+15% from last year)

My commute drastically shrunk this year.  Not only do I live about 40 mins closer to work, I work from home 2 days a week and half my commute has internet access.  I think there’s no doubt that my iPhone has put a MAJOR dent in this list–in good and bad ways.  All of my audiobooks were listened to on my iPhone, as the train in Chicago is quiet enough to listen to audiobooks on (NYC was not).  But clearly all my email checking and music listening in the morning made me less likely to read.  I can’t even say I’ve been spending my time reading magazines–I have totally fallen down on reading.  The Chicago Public Library has also contributed to this drop off.  In short, it’s awful. Their byzantine policies and ridiculous fining structure (if you have even a 1 cent fine you cannot use online resources, e-books, or renew anything) very much contributed to me never using their e-audiobooks, which was a large number of the books I read last year.

Biggest surprise: The Long Hard Road Out of Hell by Marilyn Manson It was pretty witty!

Last night, some friends were talking about what the most horrible year of being a kid was.  And one of them jokingly said, “ha year 30!”  And I thought, “exactly!”

This year was great and awful.  Maybe it’s just an odd coincidence but a ton of people I know seemed to have a lot more horrible things happen to them this year than ever before.  So 2010 can’t come fast enough for me!

This year was very extreme.  I moved to a place I didn’t like and never wanted to live in again where I felt pretty alone.  I left a place with an apt. I loved and lots of friends I hated leaving.  I quit a secure job that sounded very impressive for the world of contracting in the middle of a tanking economy.  I spent the first time of my life as an adult in the same city as my family.  I delivered inexcusably crappy work (for the first time ever) to a freelance client I loved because of a crazy stress freakout.  I took care of an elderly ailing person.  I saw the person who raised me (and the last person other than me born with my last name) die and had to deal with (and continue to deal with) the aftermath pretty much alone.

On the plus side, I discovered a new subset of my field that I loved, and got a great job doing it with people I really like in a non-toxic environment.  I work with a partner who I could not trust or agree with more.  I spoke at conferences and taught classes in my field.  I was surrounded by people professionally who encouraged my development rather than some of the discouraging experiences I have had in the past.  For the most part, professionally, this year rocked, especially as I came into it pretty doubtfully.  I still feel like there’s not a huge group of people I can talk to professionally–there’s not really a conference or group I’ve yet felt fills this need.  I guess that’s a goal for next year.

Despite the long view of this being a positive year, I can’t say I am ending it as the happiest person ever. I couldn’t be happier to bury 2009. But, I don’t have any regrets for what I did in 2009, and that’s much more than I thought I could ask for going into it.

So happy & healthy new year everybody!

Here is the list of things I want for Xmas that I am too cheap/haven’t gotten around to buying myself:

1. Maid Service
2. An early January trip to a secluded beach
3. Evey shoe made by Naot or J-41, particularly the Seville
4. A Canon Rebel camera and/or a Powershot
5. An electric blanket
6. A lot of large planters for my cutesy wutesy wittle succulents (which are not so wittle anymore)
7. All these books and these books (and the time to read them)
8. A hidden pocket hoodie
9. Lots of little trees
10. Old brightly colored patchwork quilts made by someone else’s grammy (my grammies didn’t make quilts)
11. A subscription to the Fish of the Month Club
12. Someone to teach me to fly fish
13. A trip to see Yakov Smirnov in Branson
14. Many, many massages
15. Measuring cups–either these or these
16. A flattering down coat that is temp tested to -20 and has a hood. (this is bizarrely hard to find)

EDITED TO ADD!  A Kindle! Or maybe a Nook–I honestly know nothing about the latter.

My tea was a mess.  I sort of tried to keep it in 3 containers–one blacks, one herbals and one everything else.  But it was totally unappealing and confusing and all the bags were different sizes and I would end up forgetting about the awesome tea I had.

Until today! I went on a taxonomic spree!

My new sections, totally skewed for my tastes in order of size are:

Herbals (Hibiscus, Mints & Chamomiles, oh my!)

Earl Greys & Flavored Blacks (i.e. almonds mainly)

Chais (I <3 all kinds of them)

Greens & Whites (I don’t love either)

Unflavored Blacks (Breakfast Teas & British stuff mainly)

Iced Teas (mixes, and tea you can brew cold)

Drink Mixes (Kool Aids, Tang, Emergen-C powder)

Now, this goes against most things I teach people to do.  I mean, ideally there would be a large box called Blacks and there would be boxes inside called Flavored and Unflavored and inside Flavored would be Earl Greys, Nutty, Fruity, etc.  But I have three bags of fruity black tea, and I don’t want to open up 3 matryoshka-like containers to get to them!  And Drink Mixes aren’t even tea!  What about Tisanes?  Well those aren’t invited to my house.  And when I want Hibiscus tea, I have to remember I have herbal non-caffeinated hibiscus tea in the Herbals and Green Hibiscus in the Greens.  Harumph.  Real things can’t really be polyhierarchied, unless I split it into two bags which seems a step too crazy.

Even though my system isn’t perfect, I can take heart that 1. it’s just tea and 2. it works! At least I made sure to use consistent plurals.  This taxo project was constrained by the number and size of tea containers I own.  The latter is not a constraint I usually deal with.  And my hatred of Tisanes was sort of like a political issue that constrains real life projects.

Only organizing digital things makes me forget sometimes how people look for tangible things.  Or maybe that’s an excuse to try and get a lesson out of my compulsion.  Either way, come drink some tea!

My friend Mary refers to my house as “The Best Doctor’s Office Ever.”  I have a problem with magazines.  I have absolutely no idea how many I get, and, since I pay for few of them I am always in an ebb and flow state of which I am subscribed to at this moment.  I am employed as a generalist, and my magazine selections definitely confirm this. As a kid, I would beg my parents to take me to magazine shops to buy Factsheet Five, a magazine, essentially, of magazines you could get.  A friend asked me for magazine recommendations today and it’s a subject I feel eminently qualified to speak about.  Here’s a rundown of what I can remember currently being subscriber to.  Bolded magazines are those which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Paid Subscriptions:

The Week (The best news source IMO)

Ready Made (have always loved it but generally get around to it only on vacation. I save the archives.)

Free:

Macworld (I will never get computer magazines, because why wouldn’t I be reading this on a computer?)

Men’s Journal (good outdoor writing)

Esquire  (consistently good non-fic)

Men’s Health  (good outdoor writing)

Field & Stream (fun gun articles; some outdoor writing that’s good)

American Cowboy (good rodeo coverage, historical articles, and interviews)

Cosmo (cheesy but fun)

Marie Claire (surprisingly good. I wonder if they got the bulk of Jane’s writers.)

Spin (I dislike keeping up with new music, but I do like music writing)

Martha Stewart Living (pretty–I keep archives)

Garden & Gun (The best new magazine.  Southern culture. beautifully printed)

O (Shockingly I like this mag. It’s not chintzy–beautiful printing and it’s FULL of words. It’s the anti-Cosmo.  I always pick it up while rolling my eyes, but I end up ripping something out of it every time.)

Popular Science (meh diagram porn)

Shape (It’s awful! Boring and faddy and horrifyingly poor health advice.)

Wired (Always good, pretty printing, takes a long time to get through.)

Woman’s Day (okay, some good recipes)

Glamour (cheesy fun)

Islands (cool photography. I have a minor obsession with esoteric islands)

Conde Nast Traveler (Pretty good!)

Cruises (Esoteric islands are generally encountered by boats)

The Advocate (Bitchy, gossipy, and sexist, but eh)

Psychology Today (It’s pop psych but somewhat smart and a ton of fun. Really odd & slightly pornographic photography, too!)

La Cucina Italiana (pretty uppity and boring. And northern)

Magazines I Consider Paying For

Bitch/Bust (I don’t get these because they will make me hate feminism though I did enjoy their content when I got them.)

Dwell (it’s jenny house pornography. Fills me with the seven deadly sins for furniture.  It makes me go on Googling blitzes till 3am about pre-fab housing.  I don’t think I should be allowed to have Dwell.)

All Martha Stewart titles–especially Everyday Food

Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrates (well printed & thought out)

Skeptic (good, if sometimes hateful magazine which busts conspiracy theorists & fakers)

True Confessions (This is a guilty pleasure, but nothing has taught me more about modern America than this magazine.  The crazy ass shit that flies in this magazine, while being advertised next to ceramic dolls would be illegal to film in most countries).

My family thinks I am both cheap and a money waster.  I find this hilarious.  They disagree with what I should spend money on.  So here, thanks to Grace for getting the idea, is a rundown on what I will and will not spend money on.

SPEND AWAY!

Rent– It’s worth it to me to live somewhere convenient.  It saves time and effort every day.   The apartment with the most transit options and nearest food options is always going to be at the top of the list for me even if it’s in a hip/expensive hood.

Food– Probably my major expense after rent.  I don’t think eating out in restaurants is a luxury.  I think paying 6 dollars for pad thai is less money than the ingredients + the time it would take me to make it/another meal of equivalent tastiness.  100% worth it.

Detergent– I am a Tide obsessive.

TP– Seriously, this is an area where comfort matters.  Don’t buy the cheap stuff.

Shoes– Though I generally get my expensive shoes at a discount, buying well made shoes is something that’s been hammered into me.  Foot surgery is way more expensive.

Glasses– First, the prescription.  Second, buying numerous pairs.  They are on my face every day and I can’t see without them–this seems like a reasonable thing to spend money on.

Beer– I will drink a PBR, but my life without IPAs would make me sad.

Travel– My friends live all over, and I like visiting them.  I like going places where people do things differently.  I will pay money for flights to go see them.

Internet– I rely on it to work.  Gadgets and internet service are non-negotiable.

Rare Opportunities That Make Me Happy/Adventures– Whenever I wonder whether I should buy something my main criteria are 1. will I get this opportunity again? and 2. Will this continue to make me happy?  So expensive dinners when on vacation, a piece of jewelry, a piece of furniture I will want to see every day?  One more beer at this place I’ll never be again?  A crazy plan to go to the Gathering of the Juggalo? An overpriced umbrella in a rainstorm?  Fine.

Things Sold By Craftspeople– Prices that I might scoff at as expensive I will happily pay if it’s handmade.

Desk Chairs– I am in them all the time.  Worth it.

Concert Tickets– This is a little of both categories.  I will pay up to 100 bucks for concert tickets no complaint.  Especially for musical acts that might die/breakup soon and I must see before then.  However I cannot imagine paying a lot of money to see a band you’d not heard or didn’t love, which my family members do all the time….

CHEAPSKATE or “How Could People Spend Their Money on That!?”

Purses– I do not understand the difference between expensive fancy purses and non-expensive ones.  Any bag that doesn’t have a handle long enough to cross my body is bag fail.

Going to Movies– I think the Wrestler was the last movie I saw in the theatre and I don’t get the attraction to seeing MOST movies in the theatre.  Visual effects movies are an exception, I guess, but I can’t think of any movie like that I needed to see in the theater.  And, for me, all Quentin Tarantino films which I rabidly need to see as soon as they come out.  I prefer to watch movies while doing something else anyway.  I think there’s a huge connection between watching TV commercials and having to see movies in the theater.  I will buy popcorn though.

Cars– People spend an insane amount of money on cars.  If you live in a city there is no reason to be using them, IMO, and choosing to live somewhere where you “have to” use cars is unethical.  For me.  Not judging you….

Cable & TVs– You can download pretty much everything on the internet or watch it online.  Why would you buy a tv?

Hair Dyeing– Hair dyeing is ridiculously simple, especially if you have short hair and DO NOT WANT HIGHLIGHTS.  I think my opinion is partially formed by the fact that I have impossible to kill hair.  But I have been dyeing my own hair for 12 years now, and I usually find the cheapest hair dye is the best.  I like Textures & Tones by Clairol!

Books & CDs– This may sound shocking for a librarian, but HELLO use your library.  Or bookmooch.com/lala.com.  Or many other used media sites.

Cabs– I almost never get them, esp. in NYC.  The subway’s right over there–are your legs broken?

Jeans– I wear jeans pretty much every day.  I’ve never paid more than 20 bucks for them and I’ve never understood why people pay 100+ bucks for them. This actually applies to all clothes.

Pet Mania– I generally dislike animals and I think keeping them in your house is kind of wrong/abusive/creepy genetic engineering.  When people tell me about going to a dog bakery, paying a dog walker, or getting their pet a surgery I automatically mentally imagine them in a topcoat & tails lighting cigars with $1000 bills–I can’t help it!  The marketing around Pet Crap is so ridiculous. It’s an ANIMAL PEOPLE!  It’s life is supposed to be brutish and short even if you call it Mr. Wiggums and dress it in a tutu.

Buying a House– I move every year or two.  Sometimes, across the country.  So stop trying to convince me owning is a better deal.  I’ll pay the “premium” of rent to not have to go through the hassle of selling & paying brokers when I leave a yr from now, thanks!

What are yours?

I am a huge Zappos fan. Who isn’t these days? I have ordered shoes from them for probably 8 or so years now. Growing up in a house full of podiatrists can make a girl picky about shoes, and having big feet doesn’t help either. So their selection has always blown me away. That’s why I first liked them–the shoes! But I am also a cheapskate and an internet addict, so their free shipping and deals, and the fact that I didn’t have to go anywhere or talk to anyone to get new shoes.

Then I became an organizer of things on the internet. A devotee of Ranganthan. An obsesser of faceted search. And then I started to love Zappos even more. But admittedly, I saw some problems with their tagging/metadata. At that point I went to their booth at SxSW and, in a demented, obsessive, and maybe slightly tipsy state, started discussing their metadata with someone on their web team. I am sure he was frightened by my zealous fire for shoe categorization (I think people don’t frequently raise their voice about metadata in an excited matter and hop around while flailing their arms quite as frequently as I do), but he gave me a lot of zappos free stuff and chatted with me politely and suggested I get their culture book.

And I think it’s around then that I drank the kool aid.

The culture book was totally awesome. The culture was the thing I didn’t like about the job I was in at the time, and it was like a breath of fresh air to read the Culture Book. I had just presented about how librarianship was losing a lot of quality librarians because of the oppressive anti-tech culture they worked in. This all synced up with what I was reading in their book.

In the time since then, I have emailed with a lot of Zappos employees and asked them to be on panels I have been on. So when I got an email the other day that they were having a Zappos Boot Camp for people who want to learn more about how they do what they do, I was totally excited.

But then I learned it was $5,000. And that is not really in my budget. But if it’s in yours, I highly suggest you go.

They also have scholarships, which I am applying for. Let’s all hope I get it!

If not, I’ll still feverishly go to their website to look for all the new things they’re doing. Not just to buy shoes. I SWEAR.

People often do not understand what I do for a living. I avoid this:

best. photo. ever.

If you use the internets enough to read my website you’ve probably heard of Kiva.org.  In case you haven’t, people (mostly from Africa, but from all over) sign up for loans they need to start businesses or keep their businesses running.  It’s not charity–they pay you back, admittedly without interest.  But hey, for a lot of people, in their country, $100 goes a long way.

I have been meaning to loan some money on Kiva for a while.  In addition to getting your money back, I like the idea that you give the money to a specific PERSON.  It is hard to decide who though–there are many people on Kiva with valid business propositions.  However, when I found Yaa Bomo, I knew she was the one!  Yaa sells smoked fish in Ghana.  I love smoked fish above pretty much everything.  Go Yaa!

And I put it on my credit card, for which I get money back.  So I actually earned money lending Yaa money!

She still needs $350.00.  I know times are tough anywhere, but if you can, please try and help the people of Ghana enjoy smoked fish!  Or something else, I GUESS.

I love reality tv.  For the most part I do not defend it.  If you think it’s stupid and bad for America, good for you.  You’re so better than the rest of us who enjoy entertainment.  However, I beseech you to watch “I’m a Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here.”

First, Patty Blagoevich is on it and talks about her political scandal with her friends on the show in a way I think she’d never talk in an interview.  And she convinces everyone in camp that Rod is totally innocent.  In “civilization” you can get multiple news sources, but when you’re in the jungle there’s no other person to tell you what happened.  So why wouldn’t you believe the nice lady?

That’s the other thing.  I LIKE Patty.  She seems COOL.  She seems to BELIEVE Rod is actually innocent.  It’s amazing. She’s just extremely normal and honestly, it’s the best PR move ever.

What I also really enjoy about reality tv though is highly reflected in this show.  Two people have a conversation that is filmed. Then they talk about what happened and both of them have a COMPLETELY different view of what happened.  This helps me.  In conversations you always assume people are on the same page as you but they are so infrequently in the same mindset.

I know reality tv is not at all real, and situations are manufactured to increase this miscommunication.  But when Janice Dickinson talks to Stephen Baldwin you can tell 100% she’s thinking he’s being mean to her, when he’s actually trying to get her baptized for Jesus.

In fact it is the most Jesus-oriented show on television.  Jesus + the Jungle shouts Jonestown to me.

Grace posted something about a discussion she was having regarding whether or not people on food stamps “deserve” facials.

Regarding this topic, I guess I feel like you are in charge of your own money UNTIL you are getting money from me.  That’s sort of the breaks.  In the same way, “my house, my rules” works.

As someone who has used their food stamps at Zupans (like a Whole Foods, but more uppity), I feel I am eminently qualified to talk about this (Although how many subjects do I not feel eminently qualified to talk about?).  From my times hanging in the food stamp office, I would say the majority of food stamps are spent on non-nutritive instant foods a la Nestle Quik.  Cuz there are a lot of kids on food stamps.  Though most of the people I chatted with there were indignant about how they were treated when they bought seemingly “luxury” items or foods that were bad for you.  Fancy cheese was the most often mentioned.  Should I be making decisions on what other adults eat?  No.  But when my parents bought my food as a kid, they got to make the call.  In the same way, when the state provides your food, they get a say in how you spend your money.  How would they regulate facials?  I have no idea.  But when I was on food stamps I did feel bad when I spent money on things that were frivolous.  So did most everyone I ever talked to in the food stamp office.

And it is that experience which makes me state that no one is entitled to fancy cheese.  Do I love fancy cheese? Yes.  Would I want to live without it? No.  But if you’re buying my groceries next week, would I buy it knowing you’re paying the tab? No.  And that’s what it comes down to for me.  If someone else is paying, you’re beholden to them. Do poor people deserve facials?  No.  But neither does anyone else.  But when you have money to blow that you made yourself you get to pick.

And that longwindedly leads me to a point that I have been thinking about for a while.  Alcatraz Regulation # 5:

Regulation 5: You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else that you get is a privilege.”

It hangs in my house for several reasons.  First, because Americans who are not in prison, who have done nothing wrong, don’t get all these things.  That’s a good thing to remember.

And second, because I am kind of sick of whiners.  Look, by being born, and by being born American, you already got a lot.  A lot more than 99% of the world.  By the fact that you’re reading this, you have computers, internet, & free time, you’re fucking rich.  I don’t care if you think you’re broke, you’re not.  You’re probably inside and clothed and fed.  Feel lucky.

And I feel especially at the age I am and the current economic situation, all around me I hear people using the news as a crutch to do nothing.  Now some people are unlucky, of course.  Some people weren’t born as lucky as you or I, and I truly don’t begrudge them.  But if you have a college degree and the time to whine to me about how broke you are, and it doesn’t revolve around a medical issue, you’re probably not working hard enough.  I am really sick of people telling me how horrible their lot in life is, how broke they are, how they can’t get anywhere when they’re not attempting to do anything to change any of their lifestyle.  Not trying to better themselves.  Not being thankful.

So next time you feel you’ve been given a raw deal, that you’re entitled to something and not getting it, think about Regulation 5.  I know I do.  And then DO SOMETHING.

Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.
- Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

I have never been a big book acquirer.  The books I like to own are generally those I think I will not be able to find again, those out of print/odd finds I get in a dollar bin, and those I use for reference.  I personally can’t understand owning a copy of a novel that is in every bookstore or library in the country.  I am all for other people doing it, I just have never had that sort of attachment.

Despite this, and mainly due to Bookmooch and a friend who works for a publishing house, I have acquired A LOT of books recently.  My Bookmooch list is mainly things I have not been able to find in a library, and most of the books, due to my bizarre interests, hardly ever have a supplier.  So when someone has a book I want, whether I am going to read it immediately or not, I grab it.  Leading to too many awesome unread books.

And thus I am going to start on a fool’s errand, one I have tried many times.

The Read What You Have Challenge!

Basically as soon as I read something, I get rid of it generally, and as I currently own ZERO bookshelves, it would be a good thing to get rid of a few.  So other than

• books I might read for a book club
• audiobooks I dnld
• books I require to meet an immediate need

I am reading what I own.  That last one is a copout, at least for me it is.  I feel about reading non-fiction books the same way Johnny Five does.  I need a lot of it and I consume it addictively.  So I might bend my own rules.  I am going to try not to.

On the other hand the Readers’ Advisor in me is sort of against this.  I definitely believe in reading the right book for the right mood.  And sometimes that book is in the library.  But I have a coterie of awesome books around the house, so I don’t think it’ll be that hard to find some good stuff that excites me.

Anyone tried this before?  Success?

Hey if you met me/heard me talk/want to talk about metadata/want to know what to do in your case, follow my twitter feed @jennybento, or email me at jenny bento at gmail.