Month: February 2007

Neil Gaiman takes on the idea that

“surely saying “It won the Newbery Medal. We order the books that do that. It’s been the most respected guide to quality children’s literature since 1922,” would fend off most threats to a school librarian’s job… wouldn’t it?”

isn’t really enough. I have to agree with the opposition on this one, especially given his example:

Well, twenty years ago, when I was younger, quite poor, had two small children and a mortgage, I quit the best job I’d had to that point — writing for a national UK paper — because I didn’t want to write a front page article that editorial had concocted that was obviously untrue.

There is a big difference between attaching your name to a story in a national newspaper, a story that you know to be untrue, and defending a children’s book in your local library. One of those could cost you your current job, the other could cost you your career, in addition to any legal remedies that might result.

While I agree in principle that there is a special obligation I can’t argue with someone who doesn’t want to sacrifice their job to it over this.

boulder wash 1

Originally uploaded by paulbeard.

This is more like it. This one and another you can see @ Flickr were taken with the Macanudo-cam, my cigar-box 4×5 and I’m a lot happier with the results.

The subject is a public installation called Boulder Wash (this is the only mention I could find of it) by John Hoge. It’s a nice arrangement of what I think are granite boulders, partly polished, sectioned to resemble tables, and cracked open like geodes.

Taken with Arista Ultra.EDU 100 sheet film, exposure time unrecollected, but I think in the 4 second range, stand-developed in Rodinal 1:100. I had to slide the midrange in the levels after scanning as it was bit flat, but not too much. The ends I left alone as there was plenty of detail there.