winter reading program

Well, the library's experiment with a different kind of winter reading program is winding down. Not that it had very far to wind.

Previously, it had been similar to the children's reading program -- list the books you've read on a paper form, and turn it in for a prize. In the case of adults, this meant about half a dozen books over two or three months, in return for a mug, or some reading-related item with the library's logo.

This year, registration was online only, and the physical prizes have been replaced by a "chance to connect with other readers ... to talk about books you love!"

This ain't gonna work. For one thing, even adults like getting rewards. Not just a "good feeling" of accomplishment, but real rewards, like physical stuff. But the physicality goes beyond that. There is the physical act of writing down the title of each book as you finish it, then physically handing the filled-out physical piece of paper to a physical librarian -- and maybe exchanging a casual comment about the books as you do so. This world of tangible books and paper and ink and librarians is comfortable, especially to older people and quiet people -- the kinds of people who are most likely to participate in reading programs. In fact, many of these people are downright uncomfortable with computers. And even for those who don't mind them, the coziness factor is missing.

I suppose a completely virtual program could be geared toward a different kind of reader -- younger, busier, at home online. But to appeal to that crowd it would have to be exciting and fast-paced. It would've been good to have a web page for the program, with a lot of glitz and glamor, and interactive cool stuff. More importantly, it would need an immersive, ongoing conversation, where participants could "show off" to friends and meet interesting new people. The Facebook discussion just didn't have enough people to sustain it. Maybe a link on the library's website directly to the discussion would've helped.

not a real resolution 'cause that would imply a commitment

O.k., I sorta tried it for 2010 (with mixed results), but I'm gonna try this year to live more as a resident of the 21st century.

How does one do that?

Identify the customs of the "country" -- trends in thinking and values -- and follow. Among these:

Live online.

Live in the cloud.

Live mobile.

Live in the moment -- and in the cracks between moments.

Accept change.

(Without too much complaint.

Or at least with a well-thought-out blog about it.)

online ads

O.k., by now we all know that cookies and spyware track our every move on the internet, hoping to figure out our likes and dislikes to show us ads for things we might want to buy. And more and more, these are cross-referenced over many websites, so one gets advertising that has nothing to do with one's activity on a particular site. Buy a gag gift, or a serious gift for someone with opposite tastes, and you're mislabeled for months. And even accurate labeling can be contrary to those buying impulses we actually respond to when we're on a spending spree.

One thing this model doesn't take into account is the fact that the web is now used for everything. Wait a minute -- isn't that good for these advertisers? Maybe not. The fact that the web must be used undercuts its predictability for the user's true tastes. In the early days, the web was an adventure, a playground. Now many people spend most of their online time doing necessary things they don't want to do -- the busy housewife doing online business chores, the student doing homework.

But it's still also a playground -- an escape from those business chores, etc. -- and yes, an escape from the very core of one's identity. While playing an online asteroid-shooting game, I want to be able to fantasize that I'm an astronaut on a dangerous mission, not be constantly reminded that I'm a middle-aged housewife in the midwest. And while this cross-webpage advertising is annoying to me, it's downright cruel to people who have been searching online for help with serious health problems. Imagine not being able to spend an hour, or even a few minutes, relaxing without a reminder of your illness always in some corner of the screen.

For the things we need, we probably already have sources. Or, if we don't, we'll search for them. It's mostly the fun stuff, the luxuries, we don't know we "need." And the things we get for fun, for luxury, for show, tend to correspond to our imagined selves more than our "real" selves. Basing advertising on our physical limitations, or the limitations other see in us -- even if these identifiers can be kept accurate -- doesn't make sense.

We should have some control over what ads -- or at least what general types of ads -- are shown to us, perhaps even situationally. An impotent man, for instance, could forbid impotence products from being shown when he's playing online shooting games and wants to feel macho. A person who has just lost a loved one could completely forbid any ads about funeral, cemeteries, or any other-death-related products and services. (Again, merely an annoyance when the deceased was old and sick and had lived a full life, but horribly cruel for parents who has lost a young child to have in their face all of their online time.)

imho -- some modern composers who should be recognized (pop/rock)

Using popular music forms should not be a barrier to recognition as a serious composer. After all, Chopin wrote mazurkas and Johann Strauss wrote waltzes -- the popular dance music of their time. And song cycles are likewise respectable, e.g. Schubert's "Die Winterreise' and Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde." In such cases, the story (or poetic scene) is part of the art.

With that in mind, I would like to suggest a couple of 20th and 21st century "rock" composers for posterity to consider seriously (in addition to the obvious Lennon and McCartney and Harrison): The Moody Blues (actually several composers) and Janelle Monae. Listen carefully to The Days of Future Passed, or To Our Children's Children's Children, or Metropolis, or The ArchAndroid and you'll see what I mean.

more free e-books online (if you're australian)

For my Australian readers, Project Gutenberg Australia and Free Read make available books that are in public domain in Australia, but are not available on the main Project Gutenberg site because of the United States' ludicrously controlling copyright laws. These would include many classics from the early 20th century.

Note: These books are only legal for people residing in Australia or other countries where public domain begins fifty years after an author's death. For people living in the United States, or other countries which have legally determined that authors may need their royalties even after they've been mouldering in the grave much longer, it is illegal to download these books. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't even say whether it's legal for Americans to read them online.

However, if you feel like quietly protesting ridiculous copyright restrictions, go to your public library and check out a book by an author too dead to enjoy his or her royalties. It's completely free and legal.

public access to information -- you're doin' it right

Grant Allows U.Va. Press to Make Founders' Documents Online Free to Public

(October 11, 2010 UVA Today)

A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both.

-- James Madison

Information is the currency of democracy.

-- Thomas Jefferson

read 'em while you can

Here's a sample of what will be disappearing Sept. 30:

SPAN (architecture)

DZgunrock (music)

Kazakov Maksim (photography)

a time tourist's thinklings (history, science fiction)

Green Country 1908 (history)

(I'll admit that this one is mine.)