Cycho Librarian

The other day a friend of mine responded to my comment that I missed David Tennant as the tenth Doctor Who, saying that there was something very meta about that because I could be a doppelganger of David Tennant. However, after thinking about it some more I'm wondering if David Tennant might be my doppelganger. So much so that I've started searching my belongings for a pocketwatch engraved with Gallifrean symbols . Consider-- both Cycholibrarian and the tenth Doctor: Are tall and skinny. Have a tendency to run their hands wildly through their hair while thinking, and don't seem to care about the resulting mess. Prefer to wear Chuck Taylor All-Stars (even with a suit). Have a tendency to talk very quickly about things no one else understands. Have been known to bellow "Allons-y!" and other non-English phrases for reasons only clear to themselves. Have very expressive faces, especially when  grimacing about Very Important Things. Move so fast that others f...

This morning I had another of those "small world" moments that seem to come so frequently in our hyper-connected world. I'm involved in a public art project for Columbus's bicentennial next year to create original pieces for the carillon bells at my church, and one of the composers who I've shown around the tower friend requested me. Even though I had never met her before this project, I come to find out that she's already friends with two other friends of mine. This is the point where most people just laugh and make a joke about how Columbus is really a pretty small town. But I've thought about this before and I'm not sure that it's so much that Columbus is a small town, but that we are all connected a lot more than we think. Think about how many times this has happened to you: you're at a party, maybe not even in your hometown, and you fall into conversation with a stranger. That person happens to know someone where you're from or whe...

I have something obscene sitting on my desk at work. Shocking, I know. But there it is. Or at least according to these fine, upstanding citizens it's obscene. What is this obscenity? Shield your eyes children, for here it is:  Yes, it's a graphic novel. Personally, I'd maybe call this one R-rated. But apparently a couple library employees in Kentucky felt it was their duty to shield the community and an 11-year-old from being exposed to this execrable work, which was given a starred review by Publisher's Weekly and named as one of the 10 best graphic novels of 2007 by Time . Indeed, it was so insidious that it was necessary to pray over the reader to prevent the images from penetrating the purity of her mind. It's utterly laughable to me that a few drawings of boobs and copulation without parts visible would cause this sort of reaction. Don't get me wrong, I don't think an 11-year-old should read this. And having read the book myself, I don'...

I first came across the term "Steampunk" earlier this year, and I had no idea what it was referring to. I was actually a little disappointed in myself that I might have missed some major cultural development. With the futuristic elements at first I thought it was based on some sort of "Blade Runner"-esque view of the future. You know, where there's lots of punks, and... well... steam. I should have known that wasn't what it was about, but it was a while before I figured out that it referred to the Victorian period. It was capturing an alternate history where adventuresome "punks" manage to corral steam-age technology into accomplishing all sorts of futuristic feats. Ultimately, it goes back to H.G. Wells or Jules Verne, who were able to envision fabulous technology in the future but based in the only technology they knew at the time. The first thing that struck me about this, was how often the signs of a cultural movement show up before the mo...