Blog

A reflection and history of my name as well as a practical guide to writing, sharing, and alphabetizing it.

As I’ve written before, I’m a Deathling, a member of the Order of the Good Death, and what’s called “death positive.” It’s not a phrase I’m wild about, but calling myself a “Deathling” makes even less sense to people, “into death” is even less helpful or accurate. In the last couple months, I’ve found myself traveling with death and grief, from the loss of a kindred spirit I never knew to the death of my father after decades of illness.

The lack of systems which truly use linked data causes linked data fatigue among those who are eager to learn & told it’s important. what can we do?

I grieve deeply that we lost an outspoken Millennial woman who was not afraid to grapple with hard questions and admit doubts. I had taken for granted that we would have her so much longer. That, unlike those of prior generations, she would still be around when I was old and we would both be growing and changing and grappling with hard questions.

For the first 8.5 years of our marriage, my husband spent his life as some combination of grad student/grad teacher/dissertation writer or adjunct professor. He worked nearly constantly—writing his dissertation, doing course prep, grading, writing articles, applying for jobs, and driving. We lived on the border of Washington, DC, with its high cost of living, to be close to his school. Fortunately, I found work along the nearest metro line and eventually began my own graduate program.

Not much from 001 makes it into the children’s non-fiction. Intellectual life, research, etc., are a bit dry for that set. So right up front? 001.9, “controversial knowledge.” A choice, for sure. Bigfoot and Nessie and some kind of devil which lived just over the Jersey border!

A summary of books I read in 2018. Subjects include the anthropocene, race, white supremacy, nuclear war, pacifism, and more.

A step-by-step on PDF redaction using Imagemagick and Paint as tools for a foolproof process. Also a look at the Goddard News historical project.

A tutorial intended for folks whose institutions may be using traject to index their MARC records and want to be able to test fields/subfields locally. It’s also another way you can engage with and understand your MARC data.

A reflection on the powerful history of Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’ along with concerns about how its use may unintentionally reinforce settler colonialism.