So I had plans to do a big birthday wrap-up thing here sort of like what I did when I turned 30 but time sort of got away from me. I guess this is not surprising. Here are some birthday highlights
- I woke up to an online birthday card “signed” by hundreds of people. Whole thing schemed by my terrific boyfriend. Yay.
- Pancakes for breakfast with my friend N@.
- Drinks on the porch at Forrest and Kelly’s with my new bike and a lot of neighbors and friends.
- Housewarming/birthday party of sorts at my house with a bunch of other people (mad props to Stan who managed to hit both parties). Super thanks to Andrea and Corey who helped a lot with set-up and cake.
Some photos are here, there aren’t many. Since then I’ve gotten started with travel/speaking with a trip to Potsdam New York Thursday for an all-day training type of thing (notes here) which was fun but exhausting. I hit the travel just right so I was driving home through Grande Isle County at around sunset and had some lovely peaceful views of Lake Champlain and remote Vermont.
Today I’m heading down to Boston to see Jim’s band play, maybe see some friends and my sister and stay someplace a little wrmer. My new apartment has heat included but that heat doesn’t come on until October 1 and it’s been dipping into the low fifties here. Hello electric sheets! Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday special and wonderful. I feel truly blessed.
Am posting this here. Though your other blog says you are taking comments on the Palin book banning issue until December 13, 2008, my comment was refused.
How come?
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1. Jo Manning Says:
Researching independently, I have come up with three books that were possibly on a Sarah Palin hit list. No one wants to talk much about this issue – the American Library Association in particular – but it will not go away – even though it seems many folks are reluctant to bear witness to what actually happened and/or to clarify it for the rest of us.
These three books are: Daddy’s Roommate (yep, homosexual partners!); Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (Judy Blume book in which – gasp! – menstruation is mentioned); and a book by a Wasilla pastor about counseling gays.
The UK newspaper The Independent has been running stories on this issue practically every issue. (They mentioned that Wasilla minister today, 9/17/08.) They had an interesting article by the author Jay McInerney last week which stated that even though that list circulating on the Internet is bogus, these are books that are always banned and no one would be surprised to have them turn up on a list in Wasilla, AK. He, like me, smelled an agenda in the making in that town.
Note to a free America: Censorship/book-banning/book-burning is never simply a “rhetorical question”. It always indicates an agenda. Rejoice that citizens in our country (yes, it’s everyone’s country, not just John McCain’s and Sarah Palin’s) have the freedom to read and to freely access information. Treasure this freedom and uphold it! Don’t allow ignorant bullies to intimidate your free public libraries or (in those schools that still have them) your school libraries. If you don’t, the next step is Fahrenheit 451. I truly believe that.
Jo Manning, former director of the Reader’s Digest General Books Library in New York City (a corporate library); former public school and academic librarian at a variety of institutions, with 40+ years in the greatest profession in the world