[Publib] PUBLIB posts DO end up on the Web

[Alana Abbott]

>
> I don't share every little old thought that rolls into my head, but I do
> consider my Permanent Record (which according to Miss Gerstenberg, my
> principal at Sunnyside back in the day, has been accumulating since 1962).
>

On the matter of public records, I thought I'd share a fun tidbit about one
of the genealogy researchers at my library. She discovered that one of the
people she's researching had an FBI file, due to some of his protests during
the Vietnam War. She's been sent a copy of the file, and it has more fun
information on employment than she'd imagined--it's far more detailed than
her own genealogical records.

This was one of the more fun events lately at our reference desk, and since
people were asking for sharing of fun stories (not just funny/critical
ones), this comment made me decide I ought to share with the group. :)


> For that matter, as a writer, I see writers duking it out over "popular"
> versus "literary" fiction (an argument that fundamentally bores me).
>

One of the most fun takes I've seen on this (valuing both "popular" and
"literary" highly, while allowing them distinctions) was Neal Stephenson's
Slashdot article. (It's an October 2004 interview; the link I'm pulling up
through Google seems to be broken -- the only link I can find that provides
a chunk of his argument actually has a very interesting counter argument as
well:
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/news/2004/10/neal-stephenson-and-beowulf.html.)
I suspect that the argument will never be concluded (and hence, can
understand how it might be considered boring), but I do like the challenge
of validating both works that are popular/bestsellers and works that are
intellectually challenging. I also posit that the two do intersect on
occasion--and that intellectual challenges and deep thoughts and ideas can
be found in mass market, shared-world, fantasy paperbacks, if you go looking
for them.
Just my two cents!

Alana Abbott
Reference Assistant

-- 
Alana Joli Abbott, Freelance Writer and Editor (
http://www.virgilandbeatrice.com)
Author of "Nomi's Wish" (
http://coyotewildmag.com/2008/august/abbott_nomis_wish.html), featured in
Coyote Wild Magazine
Contributor to Serenity Adventures: http://tinyurl.com/serenity-adventures
Contributor to Ransom: The Anthology: http://tinyurl.com/ransombook
--
For updates on my writings, join my mailing list at
http://groups.google.com/group/alanajoliabbottfans
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