The quest for Marty Moose

I’m back from a three week break from work. I saw pretty hills in Îles de la Madeleine, spent not nearly enough time with my best friend Emmanuelle, and had my own Sideways-type holiday with my boyfriend.

I have one regret: I looked forward too intensely to my 3 week leave-with-pay.

I guess what I am saying is that pre-vacation excitement need not be any more than the thrill of not making any reservations, any plans. Just book a flight. That’s excitement, my friends. Can you do it? Can you deal with that much irresponsibility? I certainly couldn't and planned my ass off before going away. How many packing and to-do list can one compile without becoming eighteen kinds of crazy?

Forced impromptu breaks can be a blessing. I find that the best vacations are the ones we truly have no choice but to let go, entirely, of everything, and suddenly: schedule, plans, alarm clock. Like getting a bad cold, or fired. Or leaving for nowhere in particular with very few possessions.

Not that i'm trying to idealize zen-buddhists. I would never want to be one of those meditation-and-chanting sort of people who found inner-peace by doing time at a monk retreat, kumbaya and all. However intensely you found inner peace, there will always be some douche in your life driving you up the wall. People need to vent. We are just as neurotic while on vacation/retreat as we are in “real life”. It's a consolation for me.

I leave you with my favourite quote from Clark W. Griswold in National Lampoon’s Vacation:

I think you're all fucked in the head. We're ten hours from the fucking fun park, and you wanna bail out! Well, I'll tell you something, this is no longer a vacation . . . it's a quest! It's a quest for fun! I'm gonna have fun, and you're gonna have fun! We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our Goddamn smiles! You'll be whistling Zip-a-dee-doo-da out of your assholes! I've got to be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose! Praise Marty Moose!

Photography: Donald Weber

From the series "The Underclass and its Bosses", shot in Ukraine in 2005.

Crazy patrons

I think Foxy Librarian writes these posts to make the rest of us librarians feel like we work in a spa, by comparison. Some of these patrons could double as extras in a David Lynch.

So what is this blog about anyway? A FAQ.

Q. Who are you?
A. Hi, my name is Christine and i'm a librarian.

Q. Why do you have a blog?
A. It's an exercice. I enjoy writing. I enjoy seeing my words on the screen. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Q. You're a frenchie. Why english?
A. I genuinely love the language. You will see typos and idiosyncraties (did i spell that right?). I promise I will get better at writing it.

Q. What is this about anyway?
A. I'm not sure yet. Stay tuned.

Q. Will you go out with me?
A. Sadly, no. But if you have HBO i'll think about it.

Q. Sigh, another blog. Why should we read you especially?
A. Because i'm special, just like everybody else.

v.good

Bridget Jones is back. Am v.happy. The queen of chardonnay has a spot in The Independent (UK) every day or so, and you can buy the articles for a pound per entry (or get a subcription, but unless you a a brit or just really news-starved, there is no point really).

Pimp my Library

Just read this article about libraries giving access to databases not indexed by Google (except those covered by Google Scholar), and for free. Since libraries have that added value to them, why not take a ratty old library with a crappy website, sick computers and turn it into a sparkling ergonomic place to find information. We could still call it a library.

Blog for Freedom

"For the past 15 years, EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation] has been fighting to preserve the constitutional right to freedom of expression on the Internet"