Snap'd

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I've finally gotten around to posting a sampling of my photos from this past Christmas. Yes, I'm a lazy, lazy blogger, and an ever lazier photographer. Have a look-see here.

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Banned Books Week 2014

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This post also appears on the Deep Stacks blog at  Round Rock High School Library . It’s not news that comic books, or at least stories and characters that were born in that medium, have become more and more visible over the past several years. Even if you’ve never darkened the door of your local comic book shop (which you should, even if — especially if — you don’t think you’d be interested), you’re doubtlessly at least somewhat familiar with the exploits of Scott Pilgrim, Groot, or Enid & Rebecca. But even with their renewed cultural currency, comics are not without their detractors. In recognition of this, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week 2014 is focusing on comic books and graphic novels which have have been challenged in our school and public libraries. The Guardian published an interview on Friday with acclaimed comic book writer and artist Jeff Smith in which he discusses his views on challenges to library collections and his feelings about his best...
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The Livin's Easy

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The solstice is still over a week away, but the good ol' summertime is rapidly ramping up around here. We've attended graduations, seen three films on the epic scale (Caspian: OK, Indy: Good, Iron Man: teh w1nz0rz!!one!), celebrated birthdays, watered our lawn for the first time ever, and visited a favorite raspas stand. This week I'm driving out to Beaumont for one of Christina's Zeta events. Actually, that understates the oddness of this journey a bit: she's in charge of organizing activities for the husbands/boyfriends/"it's complicated"-s of her sorority sisters while they have Very Important Meetings. If there weren't any guys in attendance, she wouldn't be going; and if she wasn't, I wouldn't, but since we are, I get to be in on the fun (and, in fact, did much of the research for said "fun"). Since she's going, though, and it's a well-known fact that I happily accompany her hither and yon, her chapter, composed i...
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Why I Toast

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I wrote this up for the company newsletter; we're trying to recruit members for our chapter of Toastmasters. It'll be interesting to see if this attracts anyone. The promotional literature for Toastmasters generally presents a litany of reasons for joining up: there's the appeal to the shy, that they might become more confident; the paean to enhanced leadership skills; and always the promise of camaraderie and bonhomie. While worthy reasons to explore our bold, competent and amicable group, they don't capture the opportunity Toastmasters offers that caught my eye. I've not been shy in front of an audience in decades, being an officer lacks appeal, and being gregarious has never been a personal goal. What I was seeking, although I didn't realize it, was a place to give a speech. Backing up a bit: I was a competitive debater and speaker back in my school days. Adult life, though, doesn't have much to offer in terms of opportunities to exercise rhetoric and ora...
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