Mika Brzezinski

    Who is she, other than the daughter of Jimmy Carters NSA man Zbigniew Brzezinski.  Her live coverage of the 9/11 attacks was noted.  She is the MSNBC Reporter, who refused to report about Paris Hilton on the Morning Joe show on 6/26/07.

Congratulations to her for her courage and integrity.  Nuff said.

How Yerbie Got His Name.

    I belong to a Sister City group between Tucson and Almaty (Kazakhstan).  One of the Kazakh kids who has been attending school here since high school, is a charismatic young man named Yerbalot.  So I named the cat after him.  People in the group think this is funny.  The people who have known Yerbalot the person for a long time call him Yerbie.

Yerbalot the person thinks this is a riot.  I just like the name.

What Our Pets Mean to Us.

On  Palin’s Travels, my friend Pete’s touching discussion about the death of  his dog Bruno  made me think of this.
I grew up with cats. So what makes Yerbie so special?
I got him for my 50th birthday. In the shelter I kept looking at the other cats, but went back to him because he reached out to me, so we chose each other.
I do not understand people who abuse cats and dogs. (Well most of those later harm humans). Yerbie does not care if I had a bad day. He is always there to greet me. Why would you harm a living being who would do that to you?
As for the PETA people who do not believe in people having pets, again, Yerbie chose me as much as I chose him. He is not my “servant” in any matter. True, I cannot have a deep discussion with him, but he makes me feel like a kid.
BBC News had an article about tracing the ancestry of the domestic cat to the Middle East. According to the DNA, the domestic and wild cats broke off 100,000 years ago. The domestic cat was drawn to people in the Fertile Crescent, because rodents would go to eat the grain. Possibly why cats were sacred in Ancient Egypt.
My friend Cetiva brought her son to work and brought him to my cubicle. I have Yerbie’s picture posted. Her son, was all excited and Cetiva thought he was cute. Maybe that made part of the day for a mother and son more enjoyable.
So there is my explanation for a big little kid, or a man and his cat.

The Poem.

    Couldn’t resist the rhyme.

Yerbalot the Ocelot
Likes to get in trouble a lot.
Many days, I think he’s going to pot,
Especially when he sits on a cot.
Then again, he’s just a tot,
That Yerbalot the Ocelot.

Who Is Yerbie?

Yerbie is my cat.  There have been many cats connected with certain people.  In later posts, I will explain more such as why this cat etc.

Michael Palin and Palin’s Travels.

    I have now been on the Palins Travels Website for two years.  I have met some great people there and contribute regularly.

He is going to be signing his diaries book in New York City on September 4th.  The scramble has started to get people to attend for me.  I am a native of Brooklyn, but of course no longer living there.  It is a long walk from Tucson.;-)

Let us see what happens.

Tucson Regional Town Hall

    I was invited to the Tucson Regional Town Hall meeting at the Historic Fox Theater on Wed. June 6th, 2007.  I have only lived here for four years so it is indeed a great honor.

I have had some say to me it is lip service.  All I can answer that with is “we shall see.”  I’ve said before, this city has been good to me.  The least I can do is give SOMETHING back.  If it turns out to be lip service, so be it, my heart will not break.  From my selfish point of view, it still goes on my resume.  (See post about volunteering).

Jena is Getting Her Starring Role

Jena said she wants to be the crazy lady in one of my books. Well tomorrow I get to tell her where she stands in this.

I am writing a book (just have notes so far) about stuff going on around Tucson’s historic rail depot. I moved Jimmy’s to the Depot. Hey, it is an old railroad dining car, it fits, doesn’t it?

Well, Jena is already telling me how she wants to be portrayed, for goodness sake.  She wants to be in a fight, but not kill the person.  If it is made into a movie, does Jena play herself?  Good question.

The Demise of the Public Library.

    Before I start this essay, it is not sour grapes.  I worked as a public librarian for many years.  I am not doing it now, but that is something else.

My mother is officially retired, but still working part time as a librarian. This is something I have been following as Internet is changing society.  I have found some blogs discussing this, so I am not alone here.

Click on Bluestalking Reader to see one.

General Google search for articles.

When I say demise, I do not mean going out of business completely.  I believe more a situation of downsizing and different ways of hiring.

OK, the Masters of Library Science degree.   I realize I am dating myself even calling it that.  It is the Information Science degree.   Click on Occupational Outlook Handbook to see what they have to say.  Yes, there will be retirements and some openings, but the Internet will be a factor.

For most of the public, you will not need a trained reference librarian.  A part time college kid can help out with folks needing computer help.

So how might a public library hire folks.  It could be done more like an apprenticeship system, the way many American lawyers became lawyers at one time in our history.  You would start out as a high school page and work your way through various clerical ranks, etc.

Of course, reference librarians know where the information is and can help people.  No, it is not all on the Internet.  (More in my post on Andrew Keen’s the Cult of the Amateur).  Public perception IS that it is all on the Internet.  Right or wrong, that is the perception.  Think of the statement, politics being the art of the possible.  You have to work with what is, not with what you necessarily dream of.

What made me think of writing this post?  Two things.  An article about the Gilbert (Arizona) Public Library and their changing the shelves from Dewey Decimal to a bookstore setup.  Cafes in libraries.  What does that tell you?

The other thing was I was invited to be on the Tucson Regional Town Hall.  I read the report of course, and the most important thing on the list of priorities was  education.  There was not one mention of the Tucson Pima Public Library in that report.  What does that tell you?  It tells me the public library of this region is not a player.  The director of the library should be hopping up and down like a banshee, but she is not.

By the way, to a certain degree, I am to blame.  Shucks, ten years ago I thought I was ahead of the curve, giving talks about the Internet.  More fool, I.   We could not stop the Internet and it does have its uses.  Again, public perception.

I do not see public library buildings disappearing.  I do see public libraries becoming part of the community center in a large town or city.  Just one element of the community center.  I may have more to write on this.  We shall see.

Back to the Edits.

    I am finishing editing Chapter Seven.  I am rather proud of my handiwork in writing about Professor Moriarty in Boston.  Last weekend, I saw the movie The Departed, which is based on South Boston gang leader James “Whitey” Bulger.  I’ve said before, I never intended to use Whitey as a role model for Moriarty, but that is what I created.

I think of my editor Jess as the umpire.  She has the final word on how I think I am doing.  So I reckon I need to get back to work.