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I always like to have a detective-mystery series to follow. I try many of them, like a few, and watch several episodes in a row as downtime relaxation. I recently started the Canadian "Murdoch Mysteries," which takes place in Toronto at the turn of the 20th Century. Back when we still had cable TV, I frequently saw promos for Murdoch Mysteries, but I thought it looked kind of cheesy. But when I recently clicked on it through Netflix, I discovered it's actually quite good. I'm now well into Season 2, and I'm finding the mysteries not obvious and the character development absorbing. Very Canadian, and not only because it is set in Toronto One episode was particularly interesting to me, and very Canadian, something you'd be most unlikely to see on US television. In " Shades of Grey ," Season 2 episode 6, a girl is found dead. Dr. Julia Ogden, the pathologist who is Detective William Murdoch's friend, colleague, and love interest, reveals that the gi

According to the good folks at WoodGuthrie.org , our hero Woody Guthrie wrote these New Year's resolutions, which he called "rulin's," in 1943. Happily for us, an admirer at another website has transcribed them. Woody's rulin's are by turns sweet ("learn people better"), fanciful ("dream good"), and practical ("wear clean clothes"). Some are downright hilarious: "wash teeth if any". 33. Wake Up And Fight 32. Make Up Your Mind 31. Love Everybody 30. Love Pete 29. Love Papa 28. Love Mama 27. Help Win War — Beat Fascism 26. Dance Better 25. Play And Sing Good 24. Send Mary And Kids Money 23. Have Company But Don't Waste Time 22. Save Dough 21. Bank All Extra Money 20. Dream Good 19. Keep Hoping Machine Running 18. Stay Glad 17. Don't Get Lonesome 16. Keep Rancho Clean 15. Learn People Better 14. Listen To Radio A Lot 13. Read Lots Good Books 12 Change Bed Clothes Often 11. Change Socks 10.

I've just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , by Rebecca Skloot. I’m sure many of you have read it, but if you have not, please run to your local library or bookstore or website and borrow, purchase, or download a copy immediately. This book is literary nonfiction of the highest order, a melding of social, cultural, and science history, and a triumph of research and writing. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman, a poor tobacco farmer who lived near and in Baltimore. Henrietta died of cancer in 1951, at the age of 31. She left behind five children, destined for poverty and all manner of abuse. She also left behind, without her knowledge, some cancer cells that doctors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital removed for study. Those cells, and their descendants, would help Jonas Salk to develop the polio vaccine, and would continue to form the basis of cell research around the globe for decades, continuing to this day. Those cancer cells and their descendants are kn

Tonight I tried again to watch "Love Actually", and once again am left shaking my head in disgust (at the movie) and disbelief (in its popularity, among people who ought to know better). Why does everyone love this movie? Why is it hailed as the great ode to love and romance and a beloved holiday-season classic? It is not romantic. It is not funny. It is crap. I should start by saying that I didn't want to see "Love Actually". The presence of Hugh Grant alone is enough to drive me away. But so many people - people I respect! people with brains and thoughtful opinions! - said that they liked it. One smart man said the movie had "all the markers of a movie I should hate," but he ended up thinking it was wonderful. All right, then. I'll give it a go. Costs me nothing. Wrong! Tonight I tried a third time to watch the film (the first two tries unsuccessful), so that I could tally (a) fat jokes, (b) older male bosses drooling over too-young subordinates,

One day, as I was getting off the subway on my way from Brooklyn to my workplace on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, people were handing out these tabloids. I never learned who made them, where they came from, or where they went. But I'm so glad I saved my copy all these years. It's a whole newspaper - news, sports, weather, ads for fake movies, personal ads. Brilliant. In case you can't read the date, it was 1984. And special bonus from one decade later, The National OJ . I had to scan them in two parts, but they are each tabloid size.

Since moving to Canada in 2005, my experiences with Ontario's health care system have been extremely positive. Through the public system, my partner and I have been able to access health care whenever we needed it, in convenient and pleasant settings, at no cost - that is, paid for with our taxes. The quality of care has been at least as good, and often superior, to anything I experineced in the United States. I love our public health care system, and I would love to see it expanded.* Single-payer, nonprofit health care is the only system that makes any sense. When I fractured my foot , I experienced a flaw in the Ontario system for the first time. The consequences for me happened to be minimal, but many people are affected seriously, and negatively. And apparently, the flaw stems from attempts to improve the Ontario health care system. Like many people, I had no idea that bones in my foot actually had fractured. I couldn't put any weight on my foot without excruciating pain, b

Every year I seem to break the holiest commandment of the holiday season: I'm not busy. I always hear how "everyone is so busy this time of year" and "this is such a crazy time of year, you can't get anything done," but that never reflects my experience. We don't travel to see family, we have no extra social events, and we don't do Christmas shopping. Many years ago, we used to send a huge pile of winter-holiday cards, but we've gone digital with that, and we don't do it every year. So Christmas is an extra day off, and here in the Commonwealth, we have Boxing Day, too. Two days off with nothing to do and no obligations. A strange scheduling glitch at the library gave me four days off in a row, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I'm reading, doing things around the house, and we're taking that final move-in step that never got done: hanging pictures. And one more thing! Here's something else I'm doing with my un-Christmas winter

My annual I Hate Christmas post is a mixed bag this year. Last year, I found Christmas less awful than usual, thanks to the absence of both commercial TV and my law-firm job. Those changes are permanent (at least I hope they are!), so I may never need to hide from Christmas quite as much, ever again. On the other hand, Christmas at the public library is a grand opportunity for alienation. The decorations, the displays of children's Christmas books, the Christmas-themed storytimes... and everyone thinks it's all hunky-dory, as long as we stick to Santa and ignore Jesus. No crosses and no creche, but Santa's sleigh and Christmas music are everywhere. How do our many Muslim and Hindi customers feel? Do they know they're not the only ones on the outside, looking in? A colleague recently related how a customer asked if the library could do a Ramadan-themed storytime. My colleague was all in a huff. How inappropriate! Don't they know religion belongs at home? We are a pu

I am very pleased to announce that I've landed my first full-time librarian gig! It's a temporary position, for six months, in the "Readers' Den" Department of the Mississauga Central Library. Readers' Den takes in all the fiction, magazines, movies, and very importantly, the Youth department, both teen fiction and teen programs. I'll be working with teens again, something I love, I'll be sharpening my readers' advisory skills, and I'll be able to work as a full-time librarian while I wait for a permanent position to post. Please forgive my bragging, but I must tell you that I totally aced the interview. I was told that I "blew it out of the water," and that offering me the position was a "no-brainer". Needless to say, this makes me feel pretty great! As you may recall, I am nervous about working full-time . It will be a huge change for me. Even when I've worked more than full-time hours - school, part-time jobs, writi

Private Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning), who risked her freedom and her life so that people would see the truth about the US occupation of Iraq, is spending another birthday in prison. This is Manning's fourth birthday behind bars. She was held in solitary confinement (a recognized form of torture) for 10 months, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing the video now known as Collateral Murder and other information to Wikileaks. Not one person was harmed as a result of the information becoming public. On the other hand, the men who cooked up the highly profitable invasion of Iraq continue to live in luxury, commanding high fees for speaking engagements, protected by President Barack Obama , never answering for their crimes. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed , and untold numbers of people wounded and families destroyed, because of their deceit and greed. Until there is justice for Chelsea Manning, let's not forget her. You can write to Pr

To the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Industry: In answer to your recent question , yes, it is your job to feed your neighbour's child. And it's my job, and it's my neighbours' jobs, too. It is all of our jobs to feed every hungry child, because we live in a society, and that's what society is for. It is appalling that anyone in government would ask such a question. Mr. Moore, you may have been cornered into an apology by public outcry, and of course you tried the old "I was quoted out of context" route, but we know the truth when we hear it. And that comment was the true face of our Conservative government.

Revolutionary thought of the day: ...something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children's lives to settle its differences. Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

Maybe you thought we gave up and went away? Not a chance. The War Resisters Support Campaign is still working to make Canada a safe haven for people of peace and conscience. Several US war resisters were forced out of Canada, court martialed, and given harsh prison sentences by the US military. Many more could no longer bear the uncertainty and surrendered themselves to the military. But some forty people who refused to participate in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, along with their families, are still living in Canada. And we are still fighting for them. About a month from now, the War Resisters Support Campaign will launch Let Them Stay Week 2014 . From January 12th to the 19th, people all over Canada will take action on behalf of US war resisters. If your Canada is the country that offered refuge to people fleeing war and injustice - from the United Empire Loyalists, escaped slaves, and the Doukhobors , to the Mennonites and the Vietnam-era war resisters - please join us. T

At long last, Iraq War resister Kim Rivera is out of prison and reunited with her family. This is great news, the best news. I should be thrilled, but the whole situation makes me so sad that I can't muster much joy.

I just now remembered that today is December 10, Human Rights Day , which celebrates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . Each year on this day, I try to participate in Amnesty's annual Write For Rights . On December 10, hundreds of thousands of people around the globe write letters to, and for, individuals at risk. And these letters make a difference. Amnesty's letter writing campaigns have helped political prisoners get released, and have pressured governments into lessening repression. And one thing your letter is guaranteed to do: give someone hope. You can let a person in a very dark place know that she has not been forgotten. I'm going to take 30 minutes tonight and write some letters. Maybe you can do the same. To learn what campaigns Amnesty is focusing on in your country, go here . If you're in Canada, go here . Here's part of what I wrote on this day last year. Seems like good advice. Don't: - be intimidated by the numbers of cases. - be overwhe

Bob Herbert in Jacobin : I knew that the tributes would be pouring in immediately from around the world , and I also knew that most of them would try to do to Mandela what has been done to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: turn him into a lovable, platitudinous cardboard character whose commitment to peace and willingness to embrace enemies could make everybody feel good. This practice is a deliberate misreading of history guaranteed to miss the point of the man. The primary significance of Mandela and King was not their willingness to lock arms or hold hands with their enemies. It was their unshakable resolve to do whatever was necessary to bring those enemies to their knees. Their goal was nothing short of freeing their people from the murderous yoke of racial oppression. They were not the sweet, empty, inoffensive personalities of ad agencies or greeting cards or public service messages. Mandela and King were firebrands, liberators, truth-tellers – above all they were warriors. T

Customer: "Hi, can I print from a USB here? My printer at home isn't working." Me: [I explain how our printing works: you buy a card, it costs such and such, etc.] Customer: "I just want to print from my USB." Me: [I explain how our printing works: you buy a card, it costs such and such, etc.] Customer: "Someone said I could just come here and print." Me: [I explain how our printing works: you buy a card, it costs such and such, etc.] Customer: "Can't you just take my USB and print my stuff from your computer?" Me: [I explain how our printing works: you buy a card, it costs such and such, etc.] Customer: "I don't want to buy anything!" [Storms off.]

Wmtc readers have told me that they like the inner-workings-of-the-library posts, so I'm going to let myself write those whenever an idea comes up. That means the "things I heard at..." category becomes less literal... not unlike the title of this blog. Did you ever wonder how a library manages to keep its whole collection on the shelves, when new books are coming out all the time? Where do all the books go? How can it all fit? The answer: it doesn't. Space is finite, and the number of books in any collection, although also finite, is always expanding. That contradiction is resolved through weeding . The walls won't expand, so the collection must shrink This seems obvious to me now, but before I worked in a library, I never realized how often collections are weeded. Think of your own collection, your personal library. Perhaps you are that rare person who has never gotten rid of a book, a CD, a DVD, or (if you're old enough), an LP. Perhaps you live, and have a

"The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom. Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent

Looking for Alaska , John Green (2005) Some months back I blogged about The Fault in Our Stars , by John Green. I absolutely loved this book. I went in search of everything else the author has written, and with another title down, I have not been disappointed. Green's 2005 debut novel Looking for Alaska was about as good a youth novel as I've ever read. It's almost impossible to write about this book without spoiling a major plot reveal. I loved the way the author managed this - it damn near took my breath away - and I don't want to deprive anyone else of that experience. So if you can manage to find this book without reading or hearing of the central premise, go for it. If the premise already has been spoiled for you, but you like a good teen read, go for it anyway. The brilliance of Looking for Alaska lies in one Miles Halter, a narrator-descendant of Salinger's Holden Caulfield and Russell Banks' Bone , a witty, sweet, self-deprecating searcher, a misfit e

From The Nation : Last night, Worker Center Watch - a new website dedicated to attacking labor-affiliated activist groups like OUR Walmart, Restaurant Opportunities Center, and Fast Food Forward  - began sponsoring advertisements on Twitter to promote smears against the protests planned for Black Friday. In one video sponsored by the group, activists demanding a living wage and better working conditions for workers are portrayed as lazy “professional protesters” who “haven’t bothered to get jobs themselves.” “This Black Friday, just buy your gifts, not their lies,” instructs the Worker Center Watch narrator. . . . Worker Center Watch has no information its website about its sponsors. Yet the group attacks labor activists and community labor groups for lacking transparency. “Hiding behind these non-profits, unions mask their true motivations, circumvent operational requirements and skirt reporting and disclosure obligations,” says Worker Center Watch, referring to labor-supported worker