#87 - A Little Space for Spacing

And a few other short bits.

Hello, my friends,

Last year at this time I gave an update on my balcony plants. There have been a few since then, but only the hanging plant and succulents are still alive. Over the summer, we lost the two mint plants I bought earlier this year and a indoor plant with flat leaves along with several Venus Fly Traps. The heat wave we had a month or so ago was not good for the less desert-dwelling balcony fauna. Oh well!

Similar to last week, I’m a bit worn down by a busy few days. For example, on Thursday I started work later because I attended an outreach event in the afternoon and then in the evening hosted a virtual event for the library that ended at 8p. I’m hoping that the next few weeks will be a little quieter. I did also go to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class on Wednesday evening and am sore in unexpected places.

Anyway, today’s newsletter will be shorter than usual. I hope that’s okay — I recommend spending the time you would have been reading HMF doing nothing but staring off into space. It’s truly liberating!

“Under the Vines” (c. 1870s) by Eastman Johnson

J-Ro

Earlier this week, I listened to Lex Fridman’s second interview with Joe Rogan. For those who don’t know, Joe Rogan is a successful stand-up comedian, former host of the show Fear Factor, ringside color commentator for the UFC, and the host of The Joe Rogan Experience, an uber-popular podcast. While Joe Rogan has gotten in trouble over time for having controversial guests on his show and making false claims about various topics on different platforms, listening to the interview gives me the sense that he’s a reasonable, even-keeled guy. The part of the interview with Fridman that stood out was when they talked about how Rogan handled a situation where he was getting “cancelled”. He talked about the importance of introspection and exercise. Sticking to his routines.

I’m sure that Rogan and I disagree about some things, I respect his accomplishments in various fields and especially that he’s a person that keeps his cool in public discourse. Mostly, he seems like someone who recognizes his own limitations (like lack of expertise) and is open to changing his mind when a situation warrants it. I appreciate that in public figures.

In this hilarious SNL parody skit from last week, Joe Rogan appears as one of the commentators, “…all bald, and in the shiniest of shirts.”

Professional Conferencing

On the Friday this newsletter is dropping, I’ll be at the California Library Association (CLA) conference. When I first began attending professional conferences as a student, I religiously attended sessions. But as time has passed and I’ve gained more knowledge of the field, my conference participation has changed. These days, I’m a mid-career librarian (14 years in) that has moved beyond the branch-level; having been in my current role for around seven years I’m very comfortable with things I do. Because of that, many of conference sessions cover topics that aren’t as advanced as would be useful for me. All that being the case, my conferences are a lot more about connecting and reconnecting with other library folk and learning from them directly.

On Friday, I expect to chat with people I haven’t seen in a while, meet interesting new people, and attend a few sessions. If I pick up a few interesting tidbits at those sessions I’ll be happy. Mostly, it’ll be nice to be in a library milieu! Maybe I’ll present next year.

Space for Spacing

I think that’s it for today. Here’s your moment of zen.

“A Jellyfish Galaxy Adrift” by ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team. More info on Flickr.

Time Machine

Here’s what I wrote in HMF a year ago (in issue #34):

• Making it Personal: Musing on personal websites.

• Bow to the Low-Brow: Commenting on the extremely popular basic poetry found all over social media.

• Plant Life: An update on balcony plants.