Photos from my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia can be found on Flickr.

now include:

• Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus
• Best American Short Stories, 2004 edited by Lorrie Moore
• Where the Stress Falls by Susan Sontag
• Revolting Librarians Redux edited by Roberto and West
• A Reader in Art Librarianship edited by Philip Pacey
• Acts of Engagement: Writings on Art, Criticism, and Institutions, 1993-2002 by Michael Brenson
• Visual Culture: Images and Interpretations edited by Bryson, Holly, and Moxey
• The Object Stares Back by James Elkins
• Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction by James Elkins
• Art Theory and Criticism : An Anthology of Formalist Avant-Garde, Contextualist and Post-Modernist Thought edited by Sally Everett
• Art and Philosophy (a collection of interviews with no apparent editor)
• Easy Steps to Good Grammar: A Mini-book for Self-improvement by Ida Bellegarde
• Woe is I: the Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia O’Connor

The last two titles are inspired by the possibility of needing to take a proofreading test for an administrative assistant position.

Otherwise, we’ll see what I can get through before school starts!

I’ve been settling down here in Chicago*–and finally yesterday I got my Chicago Public Library card at the downtown Harold Washington Library Center. The downtown Chicago library is great, and I’m looking forward to the newly built Logan Square branch to open as it is only three blocks away from my place. It looks like they are putting shelving up, so it shouldn’t be too long.

I checked out a some summer reading material, including Revolting Librarians Redux. While I don’t know if I’ll agree to all that I read in this volume of essays, anything with some passion is worth checking into. I’ll attempt a review later on.

I was reminded of Revolting Librarians Redux when I attended an unofficial ALA conference event at Quimby’s Bookstore: “The Secret Lives of Librarians Event Feature Jenna Freedman, Travis Fristoe, Jenn Phillips-Bacher, Keith Helt and Celia Perez.” The place was packed, and everyone was having a great time. Each of the librarian/authors read from their zines. Writing wise, I was particularly impressed with Jenn Phillips-Bacher and Travis Fristoe. Jenn’s humorous biographical essay on Dewey (I hope to get ahold of the one existing issue of Riot Librarrrian if there’s a copy around somewhere). Travis’ writing seemed perfect as spoken word performance, with hilarious comments on library work and library patrons.

Jenna Freedman, who also read from her work, is a member of Radical Reference, a “service provided by librarians from over the United States to support the work of activists and independent journalists.” Check it out.

(this post is also at www.indylibrarian.net)

*if you’ve read any of my other posts for the last month, you’ll know I’m all about “settling in.”

I’ve spent a good chunk of the 4th watching every video on the Eels web site. I highly recommend “Hey Man” and “Souljacker Part I”.

I can’t believe I left Austin just 28 short days ago. Aside from the ever-present absence of my dear friends, Austin seems like something from years ago. The last 28 days have been full days–indeed a sum total of appox. 5431 miles were traveled on land (though often it felt like vast sea of pavement, grass, and right-wing radio programming).

Many, many of these miles were traveled in my beloved, and soon to be salvaged, 1996 Nissan XE extended cab pickup. Tragically, my pickup was the victim of an all too natural occurrence when driving across the West: a deer hopped into the road, seemingly out of nowhere, and we hit the animal head on at 75 mph. The deer and the front end of my truck absorbed the impact, leaving my friend Aaron and I unscathed. I would have hated to have been in anything less substantial than the Nissan, which held up quite well in my opinion (West Loop Auto Body and Farmers Insurance have reached a different conclusion).

To wax philosophical for a moment, this type of event is always a good reminder of our powerlessness in the face of larger forces–specifically nature. We spend so much of our time in (seemingly) controlled environments that I, for one, sometimes forget that I cannot dictate the contours of my day, my activities, and my physical well-being. We make many efforts to separate ourselves from the natural world around us, seeing deer, hail, etc. as hassels that interrupt us, not as substantial forces who couldn’t care less about our day. Nature and worldly chaos have quite loud voices when they choose to speak.

This accident was also a reminder of just how nice people are. Every Montanan, North Dakotan, and Chicagoan who assisted Aaron and I was kind and helpful.

In any case, I would like to take a moment of silence for a truly reliable vehicle, a beautiful exemplar of sensible Japanese engineering…

I’ve been settling into my new place in Chicago fairly successfully. My place is steadily becoming more livable (thanks in large part to Gabe and Gavin’s donation of a mattress to sleep on). Once I get more stuff from Portland, I’ll be set.

Logan Square seems like an all around good place thus far–No Friction cafe has been providing me with quality coffee and free wireless, and yesterday I had an awesome breakfast sandwich at Cafe con Leche for only $3.00. Apparently I put a lot of emphasis on my food sources.

I’m leaving for Portland on Wednesday; it should take me three days (very optimistic) or four days (more likely) to get there. According to MapQuest the northern route (Minn., North Dakota, Montana, etc.) and the central route (Iowa, Neb., Wy., etc.) only differ by twenty miles, but Dennis tells me the central route is faster.

I’m saying goodbye to Austin by eating at all my favorite places, plus places that I should have gone to a long time ago:

• East side cafe
• Maria’s Taco Xpress
• Kerby Lane (original)
• Kim Phung
• Tam Deli
• Mi Madre’s

Before I go, I still need an expresso milkshake from Spiderhouse, and a drink at Lala’s.

My tummy’s gettin’ full!

Ahh, the last round of pool at Eric’s Billards with Kat, Burke, and Pat. Good times…

I would like to write a really thoughtful post about graduation–what it felt like, what it meant to me, etc., but everything feels too rushed right now. Let me just say it was a nice event: everyone looked real happy, Dean Dillon was as charming a speaker as always, the reception was nice–especially since Duane Carter graced us with his trumpet playing. And I’ll hold my tongue on the guest speaker.

Any and all pictures of me came out kinda lame–my eyes are always red. I could fix it, but not right now. Oh, and I didn’t wear a cap and gown….

–Me with Chela Metzger and Phil Doty, my thesis advisors–

Here’s my new building on North Sacramento:

* I can’t remember exactly which one it is, but it’s one of these on the second floor.

And this is my el stop–Logan Square on the blue line:

It’s looking kinda creepy and deserted here, but just because I lingered a bit after the train departed.