Hailed, Held, Hung
Hailed, Held, Hung
While my main venture into a library will be for books, as previously stated they are also community centers and should me a resource to increase opportunity and equality of the local residents. A recent episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj looked at another form of inequality, unequal access to the internet.
The internet had become an additional resource all residents in the U.S. and in other developed nations need to have in order to be a successful part of society. Further than the internet, more accurately it’s the instant access to the internet via smartphone but even if not instant the internet has replaced many telephone, mailing and older forms of communication and information access, especially when it comes to research, employment and getting assistance. And again, libraries were part of making up for these inequalities for those who cannot afford, understand or otherwise access the internet.
Unfortunately, again libraries and the communities who need these opportunities and access are hit the hardest. Closing libraries, shorter operating hours and fines related to late library books are creating a further divide. As the world progresses, we have to make sure that not only we don’t leave people behind but that we are doing what we can to rise everyone up together
More Posts from Jjayolsen and Others
Worldly, with, Wonder
A lot of the public support of libraries is that they are places of great connection, education and comfort that will improve the community. I praise libraries that host book clubs, political discussions, gardening events, work to get children to read; but other times my trek has to do with only myself to find peace in isolation.
Feeling overwhelmed, lost or uncertain, books and the library can be a peaceful place to rest, decompress and wait to come back to the world. In addition to being a community resource, libraries are one of the few places where quiet peacefulness is put as a higher priority than usual; children may be in a separate area and aren’t criticized for being too loud but gently reminded. Here, where you may easily allow yourself to detach from notifications and screens, you can let your brain recharge and breathe peacefully, letting the stories of others wash over and take you away
FINALLY!!!
The thing with telling “cliche” stories, but with representation, is… these stories aren’t cliche for us.
Picture this. The people at the table next to you have been getting chocolate cake as a dessert for YEARS. After every meal, they get a chocolate cake. Now, it’s been years, and the people at that table can barely stand chocolate anymore. They want maybe a cheesecake. Or lemon mousse.
But your table? Has NEVER had chocolate cake. Mousse is also good, but you are SO hungry for that chocolate cake, cause you never had it before, and it’s brand new for you, and you’ve been watching the other table eat it for YEARS.
That’s what’s like getting a “cliche” story that’s representative. Has it been done a million times before? Yes. Has it ever been done for US? Well… no. Maybe it’s the 500th chocolate cake in existence, but all the other chocolate cakes weren’t meant for us (girls/PoC/queer folk/disabled folk/etc)
So it being cliche is not a bad thing. You may not want chocolate cake anymore. But we want our slice too.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is probably my least favorite book of the series. It may be because I read it within 72 hours while flying all across the country, or because I spent the majority of that time trying to figure out whether I should trust Snape or not, Harry’s ridiculous trust in the book that I kept thinking could be Voldemort all over again (seriously!?), and of course all the Hermione and Ron drama; but either way, I don’t look back on it fondly (and this was before I knew the ending).
Similar to the Fourth book, the opening of the Half-Blood Prince was entertaining and created a picture outside our normal understanding of Harry Potter. It was also interesting to see Dumbledore’s interaction with the Dursleys, Professor Slughorn who seemed to be a combination of Draco and Gilderoy Lockhart, and of course, seeing the twins great success and finally their mother’s approval.
Another thing I enjoyed in this story is how we slowly learn more about Voldemort along with Harry, seeing how he grew up and how Dumbledore slowly deciphered who he was and what he was up to. But overall, the story for me focuses on whether Harry is right about Draco and Snape, and for both, I feel the results are mixed. In the very end Snape was technically doing everything for Harry’s mother Lily and for Dumbledore, but at the same time he was a ‘double-agent’ and working with the Death Eaters even though his true intentions were very well hidden. Two things: I’d like to know how he convinced Voldemort he was still a true Death Eater as Voldemort seemed to hold him in high regard, and, how did Harry eventually explain all the true intentions of Snape to the others, did they believe him? They trusted in Snape as long as Dumbledore was alive but after that, they believed he had been fooled. With Draco, yes he was trying to do all these secret things to try and murder Dumbledore, but only because he had to, he really didn’t want to and while Harry had mostly matured this was something he couldn’t get past, he couldn’t see that while Draco was a prick, he also could be a victim.
What I do really appreciate about this year that was enjoyable, is the solidification of Harry’s friends, whether part of the Slug Club, Quidditch team or not, this year showed that those involved in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries were Harry’s true friends and he knew that: Neville, Luna and Ginny, along with his core friends Hermione and Ron. Regardless of whatever anyone else thought of him. This is seen even more so when Dumbledore tells Harry to only tell Ron and Hermione about the Horcruxes
Also, there was some fun magic in here: Felix Felices, the Unbreakable Bow, anything the twins created
We tell ourselves stories in order to live...we look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices. We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the "ideas" with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience
Joan Didion
The White Album
Nellie Bertram
Nellie’s Best Moment: Season Nine, Episode Two: Roy’s Wedding
When she had Dwight and her a pledge that he’d live by Taliban law in the office because the only charity he’d choose for her Special Projects assignment (Operation: Give Back) was the Global Relief Foundation, a front for the Taliban.
Then, after signing the pledge, she steals his pen so he has to cut off her hand.
Nellie’s Worst Moment: Season Eight, Episode Fifteen: Tallahassee
When she has Ryan say, “So who’s leading this thing, anyway?, and “I can’t wait to meet him.” Only to respond. “Him, you say? Don’t think a woman can be a leader?”
She sets him up to seem sexist so she can correct him, also, she says her brain is her “huge whopping penis” Creepy.
Nellie’s Best Line: Season Eight, Episode Nineteen: Get the Girl
“I have one simple philosophy in business: if the seat is open, the job is open. It's how I came to briefly race a Formula One Car.”
Nellie’s Most Memorable Moment: Season Nine, Episode Nine: Dwight’s Christmas
When after spending hours in the breakroom with Toby, before and during the Christmas party, listening to him talk about the Scranton Strangler case she starts shushing him. When he takes this as her going to kiss him she instantly takes it as the lesser painful option and kisses him.
Tough, Tattered and Tiny
A food desert, simply put, is an area in a community where at best residents and others in the community “best” access to food may be a local convenience store. Similarly, as technology has changed our world to more internet-based and virtual there are fewer libraries that are more spread out. While only hitting on a few of the benefits of libraries, these libraries have grown in the absence of traditional libraries. They’re small, partially funded by people’s unwanted or previously read books where you can take and leave books as you please and allows those who don’t have access to wider libraries to still keep the *free* possibility of reading open. A barrier that an enthusiastic reader such as myself cannot ignore.
The most common, and smallest, are similar to those influenced or constructed by www.LittleFreeLibrary.org; that sells various little libraries that can be customized, eco-friendly and even some that also work as benches. While not ideal, these libraries can also serve as a viewpoint of the local community; are they sharing information about learning how to knit, how to join law enforcement, gaining citizenship? Are there more kids or adults, fashionistas or environmental advocates? Both? For those who cannot access a traditional local library, and even those that can; these smallest libraries are simply fabulous and I would encourage anyone to check out a book, check in a book or make a donation.
Percy Weasley
I liked Percy, enough, in the beginning. Similar to Hermione he was ambitious, smart, and just wanted to do well. In a family of seven children it’s understandable when one is different from the rest, and as close to the middle of the pack, it’s understandable he’s even more out of the loop, and we don’t know what his relationship with Charlie or was, or with Ron or Ginny when they were younger.
But there are a lot of things not to like about Percy: he couldn’t relax, he thought too highly of himself, and tried to appear better than he was (the type of person who uses a more ‘sophisticated’ word, but it doesn’t come naturally from them or in the sentence). Being ambitious and following rules are good, but the expression “rules are meant to be broken” has a point. There are exceptions and you shouldn’t follow the rules blindly, another major issue with Percy, he was narrow-minded and couldn’t see the bigger picture. It’s interesting, as in some ways this might have been what impacted his future at the Ministry the most, a lack of spine and compassion, I don’t see how he could have moved up into the Ministry that had Kingsley and Hermione in tow.
The thing that sticks with me is that he seemed to only reconnect with his family in the last moments, thou that could make sense if he was trying to keep a separate watch on things from the inside or was in fear for his life. But, after the battle, he wasn’t that close with his family either (at least not Harry) and it seems their children weren’t close with each other, so I doubt they saw much of each other. This hold on pride is what I don’t like the most, 20 years later, he’s still holding on to shame about being wrong.
Libraries
I love libraries, I always have. The insurmountable access to books and all the information they contain and may provide, always makes my heart completely burst (especially the reference sections that discuss religion, culture, and historical past times).
Here is Trinity college, a famous library. Most people don't appreciate their local library as much as they fawn over this one thou. My local library, the library I grew up with, that’s the one that just makes me happy and comfortable, just thinking about it as I am now.
Whether it’s those little boxes on a yard where people can exchange books for free, a large historic university library inside an old castle or cathedral where some King once studied, or your modern library down the street that lets you take out electronic books: love your local library! GO to your local library! There are movies, there is music, there are boos, there are sessions about plays and scientific questions and just so much can be done at libraries.
Think of a library as the Wood Between the Worlds, every book can take you to an entirely different place, and you won’t feel so bored, or lonely. Love your local library, be loving to your local library
Jo Bennet
Best Moment: Season Six, Episode Nineteen: St. Patrick’s Day
When she promotes Darryl; especially as she puts it as part of her townhall knowing that someone’s position at the office doesn’t represent their potential.
Worst Moment: Season Six, Episode Twenty-Six: Whistleblower
When he storms into the office about the printers and the whistleblower because they’ve now lost half their clients for “no damn good reason” and have them sign a form--probably binding--saying they didn’t.
This is wrong, first, because it wasn’t a ‘new issue’ and they hadn’t been upfront, and second, it does against all the morals and principle protecting whistleblowers who are already vulnerable as employees v employers.
Best Line: Season Seven, Episode Twenty-Five: Search Party Part One
When Dwight tries to text her his resume since she won’t consider him for a manager position
“ These are costing me ten cents apiece, you jackass--I’m roaming!”
Most Memorable: Season Six, Episode Nineteen: St. Patrick’s Day
When she lets us know the best way to become the most powerful women in Tallahassee is by working hard....marrying rich....or both like she did.
