Fire
You know, I haven't even gone east to see about the fire damage. Last night's news coverage featured hope for having three or four lanes of Broad Street open again by rush hour; the news that you had to go to Southside first thing this morning to get your vehicle if it was one of the melted ones the city had towed away; and an expert saying that the heat could have done damage not just to the road surface but to pipes, wires, etc. buried under it.

I went out to Mechanicsville around one on Friday, noticed traffic backing up at the 64 / 95 split, and saw what looked like wispy smoke coming from maybe the convention center. The receptionist at the GS office kindly let me know about it, so that I wouldn't get stuck in traffic on the way back home. An odd thing: I could definitely smell smoke in the air, later, at S&J's. Why didn't I notice it closer to the fire's peak, at one-ish?

Longevity
Vickie says:
"Regarding your post on the archiving of journals, diaries and the fate of web media, have you ever checked out Stewart Brand and his cronies?
longnow.com

I saw him speak a few years ago on his "Long Now" foundation. They are trying to create a long term storage "Rosetta Disk" to retain our cultural information for future generations;
rosetta

He also was building a millennium clock where the minute ticked once a year, and the cuckoo chirped once a millennium.
Wacky, but good insights as to preserving for the future. :)"

Good stuff; worth a closer read than I have the time for, at the moment.

Garden
Eight or so daffodils bloomed in all. I think my grape hyacinths are spreading -- there are more than I recall, and in places that don't seem right. One neighbor has awesome regular hyacinths that make -- almost -- the whole back alley smell fabulous. Weeds and other things began appearing in my yard over the weekend. The redbuds, here and there in the city, seem early this year.

Oh, rats, writing about the yard makes me think of Red Barber and Bob Edwards, and that reminds me how depressed I am that Edwards got shoved off of "Morning Edition."


Capital City weather: Cold (okay, maybe 49 degrees) and overcast and damp.

The rest of the story: TimesDispatch.com | Blaze traced to Dumpster

"Largest Fire in Thirty Years"

Firefighters Get Control of Massive Fire Near Downtown

testing a new Capital City

From Dear Abby on uExpress, tepid debate on the merits of saving diaries. I wish the archivist who responded had explained that diaries placed in repositories are usually restricted access or no access for a certain number of years, at the behest of the donor. As a semi-pro historian, with interests in women's, African American, and American Indian history, I know that certain folks are more likely to leave behind diaries or letters than to have profiles written about them in the paper or in books; more likely to keep a journal than publish a book.

Today, of course, blogs and e-mails are beginning to replace letters and diaries. Few people migrate their e-mails or save their websites. Will future historians have resources to sketch out daily life, concerns, opinion? As with any collection effort, will efforts to preserve the web include everyday people (across race, religion, etc.), or only cultural and news websites? (See this for more on "e-archiving.")

This is no surprise.


You are Lucy!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Broad Street
I haven't been on West Broad Street at night in three months? Style says that's how long the Sauer's Sign has been dark, awaiting repairs. They direct us to that website, for a 24/7 virtual version.

Happy Birthday
Chessie turned twenty this week! I went by to feed the cats in Midlothian for the folks, today. Yes, I sang to the old grey kitty.

Not Writing My Paper

Here's a Blog Survey: Summary of Findings from MIT. I am in the minority by being female and by not (clearly) identifying myself; otherwise, I'd say I fit in.

New! From Wham-O: Peeps Maker.

Have I mentioned the always cool cockeyed.com recently? This one's on Ramen!

On the last tape J loaned: an ep of The Simpsons I had not seen before. Krusty opens a clown college, Homer signs up; there's a tiny bicycle and Fat Tony -- much hilarity ensues. How can I have seen some episodes a zillion times, but never caught this one?

Weather: Snow from Washington to at least Woodbridge, last night. Clearing and 40s in Richmond, today.
Signs if spring: Three daffodil blooms in my yard, daylight until after six p.m.

Noted
The paint-by-number of two ballet dancers -- the first one I completed from my PBN calendar kit -- hangs on the wall in "Arrested Development." I think it was in the sister's room. I started the flamingo one last week, but haven't gotten very far. I use generous amounts of paint and so will soon need to go buy more.

A squirrel chomped one of my first two blooming daffodils.

"Tears of a Clown" on the Muzak at Ukrop's. And a Carly Simon song piped from the overhang at an Exxon station . . . I can't think which song, though.

Well: gas in the car, food in the fridge, cold rain falling: it must be time to head to D.C. How's 95, Mr. Mt. Vernon?

Thanks, C, for this The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Girl Scout cookies now making bid for sales on eBay. It's kind of like T said at a talk at the museum this afternoon: people have always violated the museum's copyright on photographs, prints, etc. for which it has the rights; having scanned images (even protected ones) might make it easier, but it's nothing new. People have always resold GS cookies to profit themselves; tens of thousands of dollars used to go uncollected (i.e., be stolen from the girls) in this council -- people who want to rip off kids, will; online is just another way. GSUSA's prohibition against girl members participating in online sales has a lot to do with fairness and the crossing of jurisdiction.

Misc.

It was pouring snow when I left C&J's in Columbia this morning (thanks for the hospitality, y'all). I want Saturday's weather back, please. Despite driving on my own and the weather, I got to school in just under an hour, no problem.

Our special collections class took a field trip to CUA's Rare Books room. I liked the Albani family collection (15th - 19th centuries), with the family's own collocation codes plain as day, hundreds of years later. [Discuss: will anyone be able to make any sense of your computer files in 40 years, much less 400?]

Cheers to BLH (nice hat!) for resume chat. On my To Do List: try to make the thing shorter; find a writing sample to schlep around to interviews.

Seen on 95: a stretch limo, just south of Ashland. On a Tuesday night? What's up with that?

(Blogger's spell check doesn't know "schlep," but MSWord is down with it. Did I teach MSWord my three or fours words of Yiddish, or did it come that way?)

Two Links

A Sasquatch item from the Sunday Washington Post.

A Simpsons item.


Capital City weather: about 50 degrees. ick.
On the Muzak at Ukrop's: Art Garfunkel, "I Only Have Eyes for You"

From 555 tonight:
Search your own name at KartOO visual meta search engine and be amazed by the connections. Also, go to Altavista to track what websites link to yours.

Signs of Spring
On Patterson Ave.: early daffodils blooming!
At Target: fireplace tools discounted, box fans offered on other side of aisle
At VCU: 20-year-olds in flip flops


Capital City weather: mostly sunny, over 70
On the Muzak at Ukrop's: nothing at all

Funny
I knew she was funny, but I had no idea how colorful Vickie's life was! Do give (Not) Words a read.

Would you, could you in a house?
According to The Mini Page (February 29, 2004), Dr. Seuss won awards for McElligot's Pool (1947), Bartholomew and the Oobleck (1949), and If I Ran the Zoo (1950). What's up with that?? I never heard of the first; the second I encountered as an adult: a science project for kids that I learned about as a GS leader involves making a corn starch-based fun putty dubbed oobleck; and maybe we checked the third out of the library -- it sounds vaguely familiar. My favorites included Go, Dog, Go; One Fish Two Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Let's hear from our studio audience: what Seuss books would you give prizes to?

UFOs, Bigfoot, Jacksons, oh my
Thanks to Friday, at UNC's library school, for bringing this important archives matter to my attention: Exclusive! It's Doom for Tabloid Archives!

Practicum

S Elementary, built in 1938, today boasts a dandy media center, new windows that fit the building's style, central air conditioning, bright tile floors, and a pretty positive staff. The SubFinder call stated that I should have been "trained in Sirsi," to accept the position. Well, maybe not so much trained as had someone show me how to check out books, about ten months ago. But I am in library school! I can explain why integrated library systems are important and discuss the points to compare when choosing one for your library. . . .

I had a tense few minutes getting logged on this morning. I could get only the menus for searching, not circulation! Eeek! Ms. T's notes indicated that the first half of the day would be full of checking books in and out. I took a deep breath, and carefully re-read all the directions. The handwritten bit at the end provided the new steps I needed for the "workflow station" or some such nonsense. So before I knew it, I was checking out Goosebumps and Encyclopedia Brown stories; books about insects, huskies, and monster trucks. I had bluffed my way in (kids, don't try this at home!).

Just as I got the hang of charging books, a sandy-haired girl asked, "Can you help me?" Sure, I said. "I need a book about the sun. How it works." Well all right. Subject search, narrowed to this school. Jot down the Dewey number. It was busy, and I was on my own, so I had to cut corners. "Let's see, it's a 523. Can you tell me where the 500s are?" She led the way, but I scanned to exact spot and whipped out three books. "Next, we should look at them and see which one will help you with your project." One book did not have a table of contents; impatiently, I closed it. She said, "No, wait, we have to look here, too," and turned to the index. Circle gets the square.

Once everyone had fresh books, I got to read to them. I read aloud from Game Time, and something about a colonial girl on a midnight ride; later, we had a book about Rosa Parks (fab pictures), and one on Columbus.

At the very end of the day, five fourth graders get together to read a novel together. My only directions were to let them take turns reading a page each and to help with challenging vocabulary or "plot points." They stumbled on very few words: qualms and granary stuck with me. I didn't think much of the book, about a mysterious barn-burner, but I enjoyed ending the day with some sharp kids.

Happy Seussentenial!

Thanks, CB, for the present.

Capital City weather: 70 and sunny
At the Byrd: Lost in Translation