Dumpling in a Hanky

You know, I'm really, really enjoying Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I know even less about the actual story of this than I did about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I really son't think it matters. I seriously doubt that homicidal sea creatures, massive domed submarine living quarters, mysterious island-dwelling, mountain-worshipping semi-humans, and regular battles with sealife featured in the original book! And you know what? I don't care! On its own, this is a fun, and funny book! I have no idea how the in depth conversations on who feels what for who fit into the original, and whether polite society included women who had been stolen form their native lands in burlap sacks, and forced to be wives to seafaring adventurers were in there (I have a sneaking suspicion not...), but to read about two ladies maintaining the niceties of conversation while being attacked in a canoe by the Fang-Beast certainly amused me! About half-way through now...oh, who will win...

It just so happens that Woodsiegirl has been blogging lots of things recently that catch my attention, and interest! So, I'm copying her Q and A ! Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? Depends where I am when reading. Usually, it's on the bus to / from work, or in bed, neither of which are snacking hot-spots for me. If I'm spending a few hours on the couch reading, then yup, usually crisps....but those crisp-smeared hands never touch the book until they've been cleaned! Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? No writing in books! I have enough trouble removing the underlined passages in books at work (which at least tend to be historic, and in pencil...current users know I'd gut them if they inked up the library books!). I didn't write in books while studying either - I remember things better if I've written them myself, so I'd write notes on lined paper instead. How do you keep ...

By "this", I mean the whole librarian thaaaaang. Woodsiegirl recently blogged on why she became a librarian, and after conversations in the comments section, I thought I'd join in with my own blog post on the topic. As I said on Woodsiegirl's blog, I am one of those odd people who always wanted to be a librarian. My Mum and careers adviser both said it was a daft idea as 1) there'd be no jobs as computers would be doing everything by then (careers advisor) and 2) there's no money in it (Mums advice, herself a lifelong librarian). I actually was surrounded by librarians: Mum worked in libraries her whole career from the local branch library (when I say local, I mean local: 100 yards from my parents house) to the secondary school I went to (although years before I went there). My Aunt worked alongside my Mum for a while before emigrating, and has worked various shifts as cover in the local library since coming back home. So, I kinda grew up in libraries: I would...

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters arrived on Thursday, so I shall be launching into that at some point soon. Have read the first few pages, and am already enjoying it: the final message of a man mauled by a tiger shark, written on a beach with a bit of driftwood while his face is held in place...that's my sorta Regency romance! :) Oh, and Quirk Books (the publisher) posted a comment on an earlier post, and say they're announcing the third in this series of mashups at the end of the month...will be keen to see what they have in store next!

Well, I finished "Mr Darcy, Vampyre" a few days ago, and I have to say, my initial impressions of it didn't improve much. *Spoilers below* I'm no writer myself, or book critic, but I really didn't think much of this. It seemed a bit of an awkward attempt to shoehorn in phrases that would have suited at the time when Pride and Prejudice was written, but don't quite sit properly in with the rest of the writing. There are a LOT of sections where everything's rushed through with very basic description, eg. they unexpectedly have to cross the Alps , by mule, after an escape from a mob, wearing only what they had on. This would take a fair chunk of time, and be difficult, but what you get is a page and a half of "we went past glaciers...in a valley..up steep slopes, oh, it's really pretty' etc, with no information on timescale or how they made it over. When they get to the other side there's a bit about Elizabeth looking so wi...

Missing books. You know the Library bought them. You know they were on the shelf. Now they're missing. And they ain't been signed out on the system. But someone out there has them. So...first, you do a shelf check in the areas surrounding where it should be. People have a tendancy to see a gap in the approximate area where the book they borrowed came from, and just shove it back in there. Apparently, an alphabetical system of spine letters, and shelf edge guides stating the topic books in that area cover is too taxing on the brain. Obviously employment law books are just as at home nestled in with planning law as they would be with their other employment law book friends. Then...you do the desk check of the likely culprits, all of whom deny ever having seen any book at all, let alone that specific one, or god forbid, that they actually used it. Sometimes they'll even deny knowledge of its existence, and demand that it be passed to them when it's found, as I've le...

I received my copy of Mr Darcy, Vampyre on Wednesday, so made a start on it last night. So far, I'm not overly impressed: the writer seems to rush through things, hardly any description of what's going on, more "he said, she said, they did", but I don't know if that's just because they're trying to hurry to get to the vampire bit, or if this is how it's going to be throughout. And there's all sorts of tortured expressions being displayed for fleeting moments, and brooding. I hate brooding, I do. Also, there's a LOT of familiarity assumed with Pride and Prejudice - it starts pretty soon after Pride and Prejudice finishes, so you're assumed to know all the characters and names that are thrown in. I'm glad I had read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies not too long ago, so who most people were came back to me, and those characters are left behind by the end of the first chapter, but I did slow me down a fair bit: racking my memory to work out...

So I can borrow an energy meter ! I've said before that I'm not a member of my local public library, because as a working adult with good computer skills and a computer / internet access at home, no need to read specific books for pleasure (I buy what catches my eye from charity shops, then give them back to resell when I've read them) or research (I'm not studying anything at the moment) , I don't see what they can really offer me just now. And I don't know whether, for their statistics, it's better to have an adult registered that doesn't use them, or not be registered and therefore not appear on their radar at all....anyone know? Anyhoo, regardless of the lack of my lovely presence (!), Edinburgh City Libraries are definitely doing well - catching the headlines, in a time when their budget is also under the same pressure as everyone elses finances! And of course, they have a presence on pretty much anywhere online you can think of looking: Youtube, F...

The lovely Scots Law News blog has pointed out a few teensy issues on the website of the new UK Supreme Court. I particularly like the thought of judges being tried in their very own court...wonder if there's specific crimes for judges? Other than the usual crossdressing (only a fashion crime) and frequenting "saunas" (sometimes a crime, depending on the activity indulged in...). Any suggestions for judge-specific crimes?

So, on Monday afternoon, it was time for the now-annual Scottish Law Librarians Group jaunt to the Edinburgh International Book Festival . Every year, the Committee try and decide on an event that's as relevant to the members as possible (law related, Scottish issues, publishers with a Scottish interest), and at as convenient a time as possible...and that we can get enough tickets for. As you can imagine, that's not always an easy trick, but I think we did well this year, and even managed to get a day when the mud was minimal, despite the signs warning us about it! The event chosen was Michael Mansfield. The info's gone from the site now, but it was: Michael Mansfield Mon 31/08/2009 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM From Ruth Ellis to Jean Charles de Menezes, Bloody Sunday to the Marchioness disaster, Michael Mansfield has taken on many of the most difficult cases of our times. The Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer recalls a career defending the innocent (and sometimes the guil...

Or really, any sort of service at all, since offering a 'free' issue of a newsletter for assessment doesn't really make me a customer, since I've not bought a product yet.... Ah, the joys of LexisNexis! They must be getting desperate for business indeed, if their new tactics are anything to go by. I was called up a few weeks ago by a woman. I don't know who, she never gave her name. She asked me if I would like a free sample issue of their relaunched "Tolley's Employment Law Newsletter". As thats an area we cover, I said yes, but also that it was hugely unlikely we'd take out a subscription of any sort. She said that was fine, but went on to make a HUGE point of the fact that, I HAD to reply to the email she would be sending me within 30 days. I had no idea what the email content would be, it would be made clear in the email, but I HAD to reply to it. I said no problem, and calendared it in as I was talking to her. She had me spell out my email add...