Notes
Oh oh oh, so THIS is what it feels like to care about something besides keeping your child and yourself alive. 💓💗💖 (I’m referring here to my excitement over conversations with NoveList & Ludi Price about the intersection of fan studies and Library & Information Science.)
I’m excited to read this IFLA special issue on information literacy, and also keenly aware that I will probably need to work some of these studies into my dissertation lit review.
When I express frustration about squeezing work in around childcare, I am NOT complaining about beautiful moments like this.
High pain day. Hard to do any of my favorite things - just trying to get groceries ordered and then will probably read about post-ac life or the business of writing. I hope you are getting through your day okay, Internet friends!
Sharp & sparkly. I’m very happy to channel Mother of Swords @ this stage in the dissertation process. Drew her alongside 4 of Swords today so feeling simultaneously intellectual power & a reminder that there’s value in being vulnerable. Card from the Wayhome Tarot by Bakara Wintner and Autumn’s Whitehurst.
Just finished correcting my interview transcripts and loading them into my data analysis software. Data Collection for Phase 1 of my dissertation is complete! Data Analysis for Phase 1 starts Monday, with Data Collection for Phase 2 soon to follow. EXCITING!
Me, in an interview w/ a cosplayer who, like myself, is a cosplayer d’un certain âge: I never figured out Snapchat. I was like, I guess I’m just too old. It’s the opposite of intuitive. I was like, how do I - how do I make my face barf a rainbow? How?
Third time The Chariot has come up in the past two weeks. From the Wayhome Tarot by Bakara Wintner and Autumn Whitehurst.
📚 I just finished reading Alexandra Rowland’s (@_alexrowland on Twitter) A Choir of Lies and I’m not a little weepy, feeling seen & thinking about partings and stories and ugh. ♥️ 😭
More AI transcription fun: Ways my software transcribes Nightcrawler. nightbot. Nicole. Nikon. micro. an Ico. microwave. my cooler.
Since last Monday, I’ve been beginning my work day with a Tarot pull. Today brought me the Daughter of Cups alongside the chariot. This is the patron card of a multipassionate. Bakara Winter says the daughter of Cups is sitting on a pile of unharvested talent and is uninterested in monetizing it. She pursues what she finds beautiful or interesting, for its own sake. It me. Card is from the Wayhome Tarot by Bakara Winter and Autumn Whitehurst
Taking some time to share stories of and resources about Black joy. This CNN story about Black Birders Week explains all those awesome Black birder photos you might have seen on Twitter.
Every day is a good day to listen to a bunch of songs focused on Black joy, curated by Sidney Madden (@Sid_Madden on Twitter) for NPR.
🔖 Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest? And other commonly asked questions by white and/or privileged people, answered by other white and/or privileged people*
Project READY is a series of free, online professional development modules for youth-serving library professionals & others interested in improving their knowledge about race & racism, racial equity, & culturally sustaining pedagogy.
More anti-racism resources.
Another valuable resource: Anti-Racism Resources: Books, Conversations and People Leading The Charge
Bit of levity to break up the awfulness: the way my transcription software tries to transcribe “Mjolnir” (Thor’s hammer): meal near. me on there. me on air. (But it knows how to spell Moxxi from Borderlands 3, instead of moxie.)
Been quiet for the past couple of days because anything I have to say feels inane right now. This will probably continue for a bit longer.
🔖 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice is immensely valuable, because it gives you concrete actions to take in the face of our overwhelming and appalling reality.
🔖 Read recently:
Pretty proud of my new About page. You should probably go read it.
New bio: “space mermaid sparkle goth”
and new profile photo:
(If you, too, are obsessed with manatees and need to dress like one, a quick search for “manatee kigurumi” should help you out.)
Hi friend.
I am also grateful that I have a repeatable process of making and sharing work. Every day has been the same for the past three years: I write in my diary, and (almost) every day, I post something to this blog. Something private, and something public. And then every week, I send out a newsletter, and eventually enough days stack up that I can put out another book.
I want this, too. I am going to work on developing it.
I have been embracing this week the fact that our collective current lifestyle is not a temporary, crisis-mode situation. For my family, anyway, this is how life will be for at least the next three months. And because during those three months I intend to complete my data collection and analysis for my dissertation, I’m having to shift both some things about my work space (for example, putting a door on it) and some things about my headspace (for example, recognizing that self-care and household tasks deserve attention just as much as my dissertation does). I want to feel less frantic. I’ve reached a point now where I feel comfortable trying to figure out what I can do to make this time easier for our family. Now comes the balancing act of giving myself grace without using this as an excuse to continue to act like we’re on a very depressing vacation.
I do want to get back to writing about my research process, in my very me way. I want to write about the things I’m learning trying do deal with my presumed fibromyalgia, and the ways I’m trying to harmonize self-care and parenting. (Hint: It involves doing Cosmic Kids Yoga during my mom time instead of trying to use some of my work time to squeeze in Yoga with Adriene.)
I’ve been crocheting up a storm, dreaming of an endless supply of mandala blanket patterns because they seem to be the antidote to boredom. Also if my family gets tired of having them around, they can sell for a pretty high price. I’m going to make them either way, so I’m not worried about getting an hourly wage for them. (True story, if a crocheter received minimum wage for their time, plus the cost of materials, every time they sold something, mostly no one would buy crochet. Designing patterns is where the money is.)
I’m always fascinated by people’s creative processes and writing advice, and maybe I’ll read more about those and share them. I’m also planning to read more essays and published diaries in the near future.
What fascinates you? What have you sort of always been interested in, but only recognized that interest recently?
Have a lovely the rest of your Thursday. Or Friday, I guess, if you are many timezones away.
💙
K