A Good Day for Metadata

Winter break has proven to be quite nice. I am holed up in my boyfriend's railroad style apartment in Hoboken, reading book after book that is purely for entertainment and enlightenment purposes. Today happened to be a day sackful of metadata. Now, how does one get so lucky, you might ask. Well, when a librarian and a book love each other very much, they get very intimate. So intimate, that she looks ::gasp:: at the copyright information!!

Actually, I only bothered to look at the copyright information of Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography because, well, he's Lemony friggin' Snicket. Clearly I can find cleverly coded information to augment my understanding of the VFD and perhaps even locate the missing sugar bowl. Sadly, the data did not elucidate any kitchen utensil whereabouts, but it did provide a few chuckles. As this could be viewed as a review of sorts (though, admittedly, not a very good one if you wish to know what the book was actually about), I am going to reproduce the copyright information here, for your enjoyment.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, destroyed, tampered with, or eaten without written permission except in the case of brief, possibly coded quotations embodied in critical articles, reviews and subpoenas. Allegedly printed in the United States of America. For information address Harper Collins Children's Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, although the people at this publishing house have no idea where the documents enclosed in this book came from. If you recognize yourself in any of the photographs of illustrations in this book you may find yourself in Very Frightening Danger and/or slightly embarrassed but there is nothing you can do about it. Please note that the author has been called a fraud, a criminal, a bestseller, a corpse, a fictional character, an unreliable narrator, an objective flaneur, an embattled gentleman, a magnetic field, an arsonist, and late for dinner by an odd number of dubious authorities. Send help at once. All rights reserved. Wouldn't you rather read about ponies?

All that and more is precisely why I am secretly courting Mr. Snicket by reading every stitch of material available to me, especially the metadata. I saw that the copyright page looked a tad bit wordier than usual, but this is just absurd. And he just kills it in the end with that bit about ponies.

Mr. Snicket doesn't end there. How could he be the unreliable narrator he claims to have been labled in the past if he only provides one bit of intriguing metadata. Oh no, his index is quite something as well. Let's see if you can follow this thread of associations. Ahem. Imagine you wished to find out exactly where Sunny Baudelaire is mentioned in the text. Why, just check the index and it will promptly bring you to the correct pages, no? No. No, it doesn't. Instead it tells you to:

See Baudelaire orphans (which tells you to)
See Baudelaire case (which tells you to)
See Snicket file (which tells you to)
See solemn vows (which tells you to)
See noble causes (which tells you to)
See necessary evils (which tells you to)
See moral uncertainty (which tells you to)
See villainy (which tells you to)
See conspiracies (which tells you to)
See overall feeling of doom (which tells you to)
See doom, overall feeling of

From this last bit, the eager researcher is then instructed to turn to pages ix-211 (i.e., the whole book) to find this information. Now, I've read the book and can assure you that Sunny Baudelaire is not mentioned on every single page. This chain of markers referring one elsewhere in the index is not alone. "Winnipeg, Duchess of" may lead you to a specific cluster of pages, but it also tells you to "See noble causes" which we are all well aware by now leads to moral uncertainty and then a large assortment of other key terms. Now, I may not have taken courses about indexing practices yet, but I don't think this is a very helpful index (not that it was Mr. Snicket's intent to allow information to be easily accessed).

Once I finished Mr. Snicket's tome, I moved on to finally reading An Abundance of Katherines. And while I am only a few chapters deep, I am thoroughly delighted by the abundance of footnotes. It's as if John Green, the authordude, dove deep inside my brain and found hidden amidst squishy tissues and neurons my secret passion for footnotes and sprinkled it throughout the lovely book just for me. Or maybe not, but I sure as hell love a good footnote. Especially footnotes that involve graphs and bell curve charts. FOOTNOTES!! If I could figure out how to add footnotes to everything in life, I would. Just watch me.

Un-Pottertastic Tuesday

When prompted, I have been quite vocal about my disdain for the fifth Harry Potter movie. Thing is, I haven't relayed this annoyance to any of my family members. I anticipated getting the DVD for Christmas, since whenever no one knows what to get me, they end up choosing something Potter related to great result. Not that I really wanted the DVD (I certainly won't buy it for myself), but I just figured it was a guarantee. Nope. No such deal. This was a completely Potter-free Christmas, so I shall continue the trend and have a Potter-free Pottertastic Tuesday. Happy Harry Holidays.

Kid's Television

Now that Nick Jr. has pulled that scary trumpet playing face from the air, it has once again become a safe place for children to veg out and absorb some wholesome entertainment. But then again, I sometimes wonder if executives in charge of children's programming are trying to capture the stoned college kid market along with kids. A link that was sent to me makes me wonder this even more. Now, this clip is from a television show found on Nick Jr., but it is way too absurd.

Yo Gabba Gabba! (There's a Party in my Tummy !)
Uploaded by Materialiste

That's not too bad and I'm sure my five year old sister would love it. Alas, that is not all. This show, Yo Gabba Gabba, also has featured celebrities come on for a segment called Dancy Dance. I don't know about you, but I don't want Elijah Wood teaching my kids the puppet master.


Freaky Frodo - The top video clips of the week are here
And speaking of poor decision making on behalf of beleagured celebrities appearing on Yo Gabba Gabba, it is clear that the entertainment industry says that they're just a friend no matter how many times Biz Markie comes crawling back.

Pottertastic Tuesday

And while it is not quite the same as reading the tales and seeing all of J.K. Rowling's illustrations, I am rather glad that the proud owners of the lone, sold copy of The Tales of Beetle the Bard wrote amazingly detailed summaries. Reading the tales this way was like eating rather stale salt and vinegar chips--still enjoyable, but not quite the right taste. The reviewers were even kind enough to include the differences between the Tale of the Three Brothers found in their amazing copies and the tale in Deathly Hallows. I'm still waiting for the copies of these manuscripts to circulate. ... Please?

Thanks to Mugglenet for the link!

Meet My Dæmon--Araphon

Not only is the Golden Compass a really flipping sweet book and now movie, but it has a neat-o website, too! They provide factual information about dæmons, complete with a little quiz to find out what your dæmon would be. I'd provide the link to it here, but it all has the same web address. You can find it on the top menu under Dæmons.

Now I hope the Golden Compass movietypes don't get angry that I didn't save their picture of my dæmon and opted to create my own. But they should know that since Araphon is a lion that I am fickle, and therefore need to create my own depiction of him. Having a lion dæmon also means that I am modest, inquisitive, assertive and outgoing. Well, duh.

I am quite pleased to find out that I am a lion and all, but I almost wish I was more docile so I could have a pug as a dæmon. Only servants and people that follow authority get to have dogs as dæmons though. Lame. I mean, how freaking cool would it be to have a pug following me around at all times, running sideways and sticking its teeny tongue out at me?

Pottertastic Tuesday

I'm a bit troubled that this is on the first page of Google Image results for "Harry Potter." Especially if other kids do what I did when I was younger and look for pictures of favorite movies/artists. (Which, those searches brought disturbing findings themselves. When I was in the 7th grade I downloaded images of my favorite Spice Girl, Ginger Spice, and was in for quiiite a surprise when her less tasteful pictures came up). Oh the Internet, how you distort childhood role models so...

Review: The Golden Compass, film-style

I have to say, the people responsible for The Golden Compass's journey from print to the big screen have their act together loads better than those Potter film folks. Whereas the most recent Harry installment felt more like an outline with crucial quotes instead of a fully fleshed out story, this movie stands on its own, independent of the books. And despite the recent controversy with the church, I feel like they did a great job toeing the delicate boundary between doing the books justice and not being blatantly anti-church. The Magisterium comes across more as a governmental body than anything else. In fact, the only direct reference to it being related to the church was the illustrations on one of their buildings depicting holy bodies. Even then, I was only aware that the figures were holy because of the application of artistic conventions I learned from an Art History course in undergrad. I don't quite see where children will get confused about their faith, but that could just be me.

Now what I don't get about this rendition of The Golden Compass is Dust. They began the movie by stating that the Magisterium banned the topic of Dust and that no one knew about it. And yet when people died, their daemons turned into Dust. While it made the dark battle scene super-duper neat to watch, how the hell do people not realize that there is such a thing as Dust, if daemons spontaneously turned into shimmery particles? In the books, the daemons just disappeared. That was it. Much more ambiguous that way.

Tiny Word, Big Gripe

In my elementary school, we had library special once a week. I can vividly recall one time in particular, standing in line waiting to go to the library in the third grade. There was nothing really out of the ordinary about this day. Hell, I can't even remember what happened once we got to the library. I do, however, remember Mrs. Schwartz giving us an impromptu lesson in the hallway, since we all called the library a lie-berry. She had us annunciate 'library' over and over again until we got it right. From that moment on, it became a personal pet peeve to hear the word lie-berry (Reason number 32 I should have known I was destined to become a librarian).

That being said, I have had to give the same impromptu lesson many a times in my day (though I'm sure they will argue that they have been nagged repeatedly by me. Tomatoes, tom-ah-toes). At this point, I expect it and try to hold my tongue to avoid persecuting my friends and family over a teensy word. I am almost at the point where I don't shudder uncontrollably upon hearing the dreaded mispronunciation of my safe haven. Or at least, I thought I was. All that changed once I was enrolled in a library program and heard FUTURE LIBRARIANS saying lie-berry. !!! Now, I can understand people outside the profession to some degree--said fast, that first 'r' is almost silent. But if you are eating, sleeping and breathing library like so many of us MLIS students have to do in order to pass our courses, that is just unforgivable. I'm sorry. I think that alongside having to take 36 credits in order to graduate, you must also be able to properly pronounce your intended career destination. "Oh, where do you want to work? A lie-berry? I'm sorry, give me that diploma." ::rips said diploma into party confetti, throws it in the abomination of a librarian's face and then jumps up and down upon the little shreds while doing the twist so as to get the pieces good and dirty::

There is one guy in my Human Information Behavior class that makes me wince over and cringe because he blatantly calls it a lie-berry every time. Every time! I've listened closely, done a critical analysis of his intonations, and he distinctly utters 'lie' and then 'berry.' I understand that this is a rather trivial matter in the grand scheme of things. And that it is your people skills and ability to find things and blah blah blah that makes you a good librarian; but if we cannot pronounce the word correctly, how will the patrons ever do it?

Er... Pottertastic Tuesday

I pondered my blog a bit and my Creative Writing/English degree just won't allow me to have a Pottertastic Thursday when the pseudo-alliterative Pottertastic Tuesday is an option. I probably should have posted something in between Pottertastic Thursday and Pottertastic Tuesday, though. Oh well. As executor of this blog, I hereby make the official decree that all mentions of Harry Potter and all materials and items associated with such will be delivered on a weekly basis to be published on Tuesdays. Please jot that down. Thank you.

So without further ado, I have what is potentially the best thing ever uttered by an athlete, real and fictional alike. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Krum:

"Vot is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?'

::Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows::The Wedding::(150)

Pottertastic Thursday

Okay, for the first Pottertastic Thursday I've got a Youtube video for ya. I have a tidbit from Prisoner of Azkaban that I wanted to share, but alas, my books are at home and I am at school. Such is my life.

Tricksters

I have been blogging consistently for the past 4 hours and sadly, it was all for class. I figured I would take a break from blogging to... blog. A friend facebooked me the link to Slate.com's description of how children's books became wild. I was thoroughly delighted at the prospect of seeing this transition, but was definitely disappointed once I opened the link. There was only two measly paragraphs! I can't fathom how a change as drastic as children's books moving from purely instructional volumes to pleasurable and down-right silly materials is going to fit into that teeny, tiny package.

Well, that's because I didn't realize the slide show was going to contain the meat of the information. Now, I don't know about you, but when I read the words slide show, I imagine pictures. End of story. Apparently I am wrong in that assumption. No, there were about two paragraphs per picture of the eleven images included. I feel a little let down by the web site since it did'nt tell me this. What if I wasn't in the mood to look at the images, but simply wanted the goods? The two paragraphs don't help you one single drop. Once I accessed the pictures, the website became worth my trip. So, this may be the only time I suggest this, but forget the description and dive right into the pictures!

A blog by any other name would still not activate my sense of smell

If my blog really were a person, I would hope that his visage would look like that guy (thank you Bloglines for taking the time to revamp your site--I might not have found my new favorite silly old man otherwise). Oh Mr. Blog, if only you were a plumber. Then I can crack jokes about lowrise jeans and thongs--these fashions are very plumber 2.0, after all.

I've also decided that you might forgive my dissonance if I titled you properly. I admit I have gone too long titling you with only my birthday digits. Your original pending title, Kidlit Galaxy, caused me intense claustrophobia. It misled my neurons into jumping synapses that were solely dedicated to children's literature and we both know that I plan on doing much more with you than that. And while we wouldn't want to title you too prematurely, people are starting to read you now. It's not just the two of us here twiddling our thumbs, having a gay ole time talking about Harry Potter. Currently I'm debating Purple Polka. We'll sit on that for a week, okay?

Blogging Intervention

So Blog, you must be pretty lonely. All those nights I spend on other websites and doing stupid things like homework, you have been suffering here trying to get my attention. Whimpering in the corner like Severus Snape before Hogwarts. I know and I'm sorry. You're in luck, though, Mr. Blog. Two very nice ladies came and sat down with me (and about twenty other lucky souls) and we fleshed out my problem. I haven't been very nice to you Mr. Blog and I hope that you can look deep inside your html and pixels and forgive me.

Firstly, we must have some sort of bonding rituals. Liz B from A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy and her blog get together once a week to share Buffy quotes. Now Blog, I know what you're thinking, you don't want to discuss Buffy quotes just because Liz B and her blog do it. I wouldn't want to steal their tradition, don't worry. It's poor netiquette, if nothing else. No Blog, I want to do something that we both enjoy. I think it's pretty obvious that we both love Harry Potter more than should be naturally possible, so perhaps we can do something about that. Together. You and me. Don't make any rash decisions, Blog. I'll let you mull that one over.

And, Mr. Blog, that's not all I have to offer. Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 gets paid to write for her blog three times a week. To prove how much I care about you, I'm going to write to you three times a week, getting paid only in calloused fingers and the love in my heart. And I don't want you thinking Fuse #8 is some kind of kidlit escort, Blog. She writes everyday, even when she doesn't have to. That takes dedication. Or crazy pills. One or the other.

Overall, the presentations in my class last night were very beneficial for you. It was like going to the blog doctor for my checkup. I was told to just keep writing--which is one of those things that I already knew, but somehow find to be amazing revelations once the doctor told me. Mind you, I missed a bunch in the beginning (apparently there was fire swallowing and plates spinning on sticks). And then I had to get over the fact that Betsy Bird was in my classroom, talking and not just being all awesome in New York, blogging like the devil may care. I somehow transformed into a 12 year old girl at a Backstreet Boys concert (well, they performed when I was 12, anyway) the second I walked into the door and had to be reminded that she's an internet personality, not the Beatles. I was confused for a second.

NJASL

So, it has been a few days since the NJASL conference and therefore, probably a good idea to finally mash out my findings here. Unfortunately, my friend's roommates are far too loud to have allowed me proper sleep to go on Friday, so I can only report my findings from Thursday. First of all, I heart free pamphlets and these people, they know that. I have more pamphlets than I think I will ever be able to read in my life, let alone my career, sitting in two bags in the backseat of my car. Joy. I only got to three programs, and two of them were practically the same! Those tricksters.

The first version was with Kevin Kammeraad and his puppet Jacob (coloring-book-tastic version shown here). First of all, his puppet is fantastic and can do the best one handed handstand I have ever seen. Five points. Kevin's presentation was lively and filled with singing and dancing. I even got to perform one of his poems (And got to be the bad guy!! Which fits because, well, I'm pretty much hardcore). Seven points. He provided excellent materials to expand all of his texts and worked through a bunch of them to showcase the enthusiasm that should explode from one when doing said activities. Two points. Overall, excellent workshop and definitely worth checking out if you get a chance. Unless, of course, you don't give a ---- for the whole state of Michigan; in which case, he insults the Buckeyes and is probably worth -99 points to you.

Kevin ended his presentation with a video reading of Dan and Kim Adlerman's Oh No Domino! The very next presentation that I went to was given by the Adlermans. And they read Oh No Domino! They also sang songs and had a gay ole' time, just like Kevin. And while I was nervous that I had chosen to go into the same program twice, it worked out in my favor. The differences were subtle at first, but very enjoyable. For one, being read the actual book gave a completely different feel than the video. Don't get me wrong, the video was totally cool, but there is just something about the actual text and pages that gets my heart fluttering (reason 8756 why I should have always known I was destined to become a librarian). The Adlermans passed out musical instruments and I had the delight of morracking out with my bad self. In the latter half of the presentation it became even more evident that they had their own awesome agenda. I learned how to make a harmonica out of tongue depressors and a rubber band. You're jealous-- it's okay, I would be too. They also demonstrated how various different small items placed in plastic eggs can make excellent storytime supplements. I am sold.

Lastly, I attended a workshop on religious books in schools. Ordinarily I would have forgone the theology debate for something with a bit more jazz; but we just recently discussed Dewey and his inane religious categorizations in my Materials for Children course. When I returned my books to the library for my portion of the Dewey assignment, I realized that the Milltown Public Library doesn't even have a religious section. It jumps from the 100's over to the 300's! Clearly there was something to this "God books" debate that I didn't realize. I just assumed that as long as it didn't promote that religion as the one and only way to save one's soul from eternal damnation, you're set. Clearly I am more enlightened than some. One woman in attendance removed all of the books on witchcraft before even having a challenge! What the? I may not be entirely up to code on my ALA ethics, but that seems like censorship to me.

Now I can read all the red books!

I may be a bit behind the times, but I am absolutely in love with the International Children's Digital Library! I mean, how can you not love a website that lets you read books for free as if you were on a merry-go-round? Or find books based on what color cover it has? Or or or read a bunch of rare books from the 19th century like it were nothing? (Clearly this website has reverted me back to the eight year old I really am) Definitely worth checking out!

(Here is a search I did for "true books" + "green covers" + "picture books." A-ma-zing!)

Character Study: Severus Snape

While I was impatiently waiting for the final Harry Potter book to come out, I took to indexing the dialogue markers of various chapters in Half Blood Prince. I had such lofty goals, intending to index the entire book before the final installment was published. Alas, I only have about five chapters analyzed total. Oh well. One of the things I noticed from the few chapters that I did index is that Rowling has proven her genius and attention to details yet again. In the second chapter, Spinner's End, Snape's loyalties are questioned and she is careful that Snape is as slippery as ever, right down to his dialogue markers. Even if these findings are easily made without a focused study of the markers, it's still pretty freaking neat.

For the sake of my poor fingers, I am going to begin from the section where Snape enters. I've put names in brackets where all the confusing pronouns go. I've placed a few notes in bold next to the indexing that will be further explained in the reflection below. Also, please note that the pages reflect the hardbound A.A. Levine version.

(page 22)

• "..." said the man, opening the door a little wider, so the light fell upon [Narcissa] and her sister too.
• "..." [Narcissa] said in a strained whisper. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." [Bellatrix] said curtly as she passed him.
• "..." [Snape] replied, his thin mouth curling into a slightly mocking smile as he closed the door with a snap behind them.

(page 23)

• "..." Snape asked, setting himself in the armchair opposite the two sisters.
• "..." Narcissa asked quietly.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." said Snape lazily.
• "..." [Wormtail] said, in a squeaky voice. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Wormtail] squeaked avoiding Snape's eyes.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]

(page 24)

• [no marker--implied to be Wormtail]
• "..." said Snape silkily. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Wormtail]
• "..." said Snape sneering. "..."
• "..." [Snape] said, raising his glass and draining it.
• As Narcissa took her second drink, she said in a rush, "..."
• "..." said Snape."..."

(Page 25)

• [Narcissa] took a great, shuddering breath and started again. "..."
• "..." snarled Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." repeated Snape sardonically. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] said loudly, striding out from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon the table. "..."

(Page 26)

• Snape smiled.
• [Bellatrix] hesitated.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• Snape did not press the point. He picked up his drink again, sipped it, and continued, "..."
• "..."--[Snape] inclined his head slightly to Narcissa--"..."

(Page 27)

• "..."said Bellatrix passionately. "..."
• "..." said Snape in a bored voice. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] shrieked; in her fury she looked slightly mad. "..."
• "..." said Snape calmly. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] jeered. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, cut off
  
• "..." said Snape, betraying a hint of impatience for the first time. "..."

(Page 28)

• "..." [Snape] pressed on, a little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed every sign of interrupting, "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, cut off
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]* dumbledore's name mentioned--unable to read Snape
  
• "..." [Bellatrix] began, in tones of outrage.
• "..." said Snape, impatient again. "..."

(Page 29)

• "..." sneered Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix, firing up at once. "..."
• "..." said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to suggest his disbelief. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix, flushing. "..."
• "..." said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice, looking up at her sister.
• "..." said Snape smoothly. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix furiously. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." snarled Bellatrix. "..."
  

(Page 30)

• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• "..." asked Snape.
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, flustered
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." [Bellatrix] jeered. *cut off snape--regains a marker
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]* defensive, trails off
  
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]*begins lenghty monologue
  

(Page 31)

• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
  
• "..." asked Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." asked Snape. "..." (for Bellatrix had made a scathing noise), "..."

(Page 32)

• Taking advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister. "..."
• Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair. "..."
  
• "..." Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. "..."
• "..." said Snape at once. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] said triumphantly to her sister. "..."
• "..." [Snape] said in a low voice. "..."
• "..." said Narcissa, breathing more freely. "..."

(Page 33)

• "..." said Bellatrix, her fleeting look of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Narcissa] whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix indifferently. "..."
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. "..."
• "..." [Narcissa] persisted. "..."
• "..." said Snape, still looking away from her. "..."
• "..." sobbed Narcissa. "..."
• Bellatrix gasped; Narcsisa seemed to lose her nerve. "..."

(Page 34)

• "..." said Snape flatly. "..."
• "..." choked Narcissa. "..."
• [Narcissa's] face close to [Snape's], her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "..."
• Looking down into [Narcissa's] tearstained face, [Snape] said slowly, "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• "..." repeated Snape quietly. "..."

(Page 35)

• [Narcissa] crumpled, falling at [Snape's] feet, sobbing and moaning on the floor. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter. "..."

(Page 36)

• "..." [Snape] said quietly. "..."
• "..." said Snape coldly.
• "..." [Snape] said.
• Narcissa spoke. "..."
• "..." said Snape.
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• "..." said Snape.
• "..." whispered Narcissa. "..."

(Page 37)

• "..." said Snape.

Reflection:

The strongest thing I observed is that less is definitely more. For example, notice that Wormtail's name is never recorded in the markers. He is either a pronoun squeaking, or not even given the luxury of a dialogue marker at all. Snape is elusive as ever, and when he has markers outside of "Snape said" they are often followed by an adjective beginning with the letter s, as you can find on page 24 with "said Snape silkily." The few seconds of narration in between his words in these instances have a strong alliteration, giving the illusion that his words are hissing like a snake.

I hypothesize that there seems to be two reasons why Rowling decided against utilizing dialogue markers for certain sections of text. The first, and most obvious, is simply for the sake of flow. Too many he-said and she-saids bog down the narration. The second is that a lack of markers represents power. Look at the Wormtail example again. By lacking markers more frequently than his name is mentioned, he is truly a worthless character, emphasized by the fact that he is being holed away in Snape's house to act the servant. I also noticed that Snape cuts across Bellatrix often before she can finish her thoughts or gain access to a marker, taking over the conversation. However, when Snape is being called on to help Draco on page 35, Bellatrix is the only person whose name is recorded. This is the section where she has the most control of the dialogue, mocking Snape. An interesting contrast to this theory, however, is that on pages 30-31 Snape has a lengthy monologue. He has three paragraphs of text, but not a single marker. I viewed this as the opposite of what I have already suggested, in that, he has so much control of the conversation not even the narrator can barge in.

Anyway, that's about it for that. Questions? Comments?

Teaching Kids to be Criminals.

Clearly many wonderful things can be said about the innovative tale The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. They have been said and I am not going to waste your time by reiterating exactly how amazing this book truly is. Instead, I would like to impart this tiny pearl of wisdom I have gleaned from the book: if you want kids to read books, convince them they too can learn to commit misdemeanors and petty crimes. I am of course referring to a snippet found on pages 192-193:

Hugo watched as she fiddled with the pin inside the lock until it clicked and the door opened.

"How did you learn to do that?" asked Hugo.

"Books," answered Isabelle.

It is so subtle, yet brilliant! I know that if I were a ten year old boy reading this, I would want to keep reading books until I figured out how to do something as awesome as breaking into a door with only a hairpin (Though, if I really were a ten year old boy, would I have much access to bobby pins?). Heck, I'm an adult and I wish I read books that taught me how to open doors with pins. In fact, I'm feeling kinda ripped off. I've read how many books since I learned how to read and not one has given instructions on this important life skill?? I must be reading the wrong books.


Tangent: I got pretty curious about the film A Trip to the Moon and found it reminded me of one of my favorite videos in middle school by the Smashing Pumpkins. I always enjoyed the artistic elements of that music video, but now I can put it into context. Overall, I must give Selznick credit for such a thought-provoking/outside-source-seeking/hell-of-a-good book.

Gripes.

Working on a project for principles of searching, I traveled back to my high school in order to work one on one with an "information client" and showcase my awesome search skills. This was all fine and dandy until we hit the stacks. It was in that moment I realized how smart of a decision it was for me to become an elementary school media specialist instead of working in a high school. Not because of how immature the client acted in the porn section (his psychology assignment: is porn harmful?) or because his friend came over and pretended to beat him up. There is plenty of immaturity in elementary school aged children, I'm well aware.

No, it was that moment that I got mistaken for a high schooler BY a high schooler. Often times older people will project my age to be about 16 instead of accrediting me the almost 22 years I've breathed oxygen. I've gotten used to it. (Though there was that time in April a woman guessed I was in 8th grade when I informed her I wasn't in high school, instead of guessing I was at the very least a freshman in college. That stung.) But high schoolers should be able to sense when they are looking at someone older than them, right? Geez!

And whenever I've described my plight of being mistaken for a high schooler, people tell me what a good thing it is and how much I'll love it when I'm older. The problem is, I'm not older. In a few semesters I will be out in the real world with a masters degree, getting mistaken for a high schooler. If only I even liked high schoolers. Alas, I find them revoltingly annoying and plan on sending any future children off to boarding school so as to solve the cognitive dissonance that will occur when I have to like my kids, yet they have to be teenagers. All right, maybe that's not entirely true--but still! Trying to get a job and get taken seriously by future employers will be difficult if I appear as if I hang out at malls on Friday nights with all my bros since that's the only place my parents will drop me off.

A Series of Unfortunate Supplements

A list of Dewey Decimal classifications that would prove very handy indeed if the curious reader were to happen upon The Penultimate Peril: Book the Twelfth from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you notice I left a classification of note off the list, please let me know! Also, much thanks to Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System for painstakingly listing all of the Dewey classifications, making this post possible.

000 Generalities
020 Library and Information Science
025 Library operations
100 Psychology and Philosphy
101 Theory of philosophy
118 Force & Energy
121 Epistemology (Theory of knowledge)
123 Determinism & indeterminism
128 Humankind
131 Occult methods for achieving well-being
135 Dreams & mysteries
152 Perception, movement, emotions, drives
Fallacies & sources of error
168 Argument & persuasion
174 Economic & professional ethics
175 Ethics of recreation & leisure
176 Ethics of sex & reproduction
178 Ethics of consumption
200 Religion296 Judaism
300 Social Sciences
371 School management; special education
400 Languages
469 Portugese
500 Math and Science
547 Organic chemistry
594 Mollusca & Molluscoidea
613 Promotion of health
621 Applied physics
674 Lumber processing, wood products, cork
697 Heating, ventilating, air-conditioning
786 Keyboard & other instruments
792 Stage presentations
800 Literature and Rhetoric
831 German poetry
954 General history of Asia South Asia India
999 Extraterrestrial worlds


I checked online to see if this list was previously made, and came up with nada. What I did find, however, was this excellent Lemony Snicket resource concerning literary allusions in the final book. If you check out the main page, you will find some fancy delights--including Lemony Snicket's ipod playlist.

EDIT: I stand corrected. My very own professor Jill Ratzan created a list of her own, as you can view in the comments section of this post. I have added a few of the classifications I seemed to have glossed over after looking over her collection. If you are interested in a more detailed list relating the classifications to the relevant places in the book, I highly recommend Jill's list.