5 things make a post

[capri0mni]

1. Gratuitous Icon for this post:

2) Something silly:

"" (Watch on YouTube)

But I tuned in for the poetry! And I can't find the clip anywhere!

3) There are videos I want to make and upload. But for some reason, no matter what I try (including fixes and troubleshoots that have worked before), my microphone won't record sound. :-/

4) Conjecture: The reason that many people think secular, atheist, scientific, worldviews are cold or aloof is that, in discussions of philosophical implications, the language typically used for science confuses meaning and process, as in:

Q: "What is the meaning of Life?"
A: "Life exists so that a species' genes will be passed down from generation to generation."

That's a perfectly valid description of the process of Life. But that has very little to do with meaning.

And no, I do not accept that science Cannot answer that question at all. I'll probably come back to this with a dedicated post.

5. If you could invent a holiday for a public observation and celebration, what (or who) would you choose to celebrate? (Again, I'll probably come back to this).

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

5 -- libraries.

[capri0mni]

I like! Any ideas for the details of the observance (what day, foods, activities, that sort of thing)?

The greeting cards for the day, in any case, would be bookmarks, obviously (single layer, long and narrow cards, instead of the folding kind).

[jesse_the_k]

I was actually put in mind of this by a greeting card today. The back was a standard size, and then same-size flaps on left and right meet in the center. After I tore the bookmarks from each side, the sender's sentiment was left behind. we could have a card with four of six bookmarks separated by perforations (for easy division), which would celebrate the abundance that libraries can offer.

ACTIVITY
I'm stealing from Passover (which I've always admired as the ultimate in AV teaching for little ones with wine & jokes for the adults). Librarians could hide "answer" books among the shelves, where the questions are posed by manipulating the call numbers/letters, or tracking down reference works. (Also cross genre anti-camouflage, such as kids books in non-fiction and cookbooks in poetry.)

FOOD
It's certainly an opportunity to take one treat recipe and produce it in as many shapes as possible: rectangular as a print book, circular as a CD, square as an audio book, don't-know-how as an Overdrive download.

DECORATION
Sequoya, my branch library, has four 4-way narrow bookcases for which they organize intriguing displays: "South Asian Writers," "Holiday Cookery," "Teen Memoirs," and so forth. Last month they had one called "Orange at Sequoya." What the books had in common was principally orange covers. It made me laugh out loud every time I saw it. It would be a hoot to have color-themed displays for all the places banned books aren't.

TIMING
Banned Books Week, typically held the last full week of September, could certainly do with some more attention and/or cross-pollination.

[capri0mni]

Banned Books Week, typically held the last full week of September, could certainly do with some more attention and/or cross-pollination.

Ah, yes. I was thinking of Ben Franklin's birthday. But that would get lost in the glare of Martin Luther King Day.

How about, since "Summer Vacation" is beginning to be pined for, by the end of September, libraries host picnics on their grounds, as part of the celebration?

[jesse_the_k]

I like Summer Vacation, and it would be a nice opportunity to publicize the summer reading programs. Another possibility would be Andrew Carnegie's birthday, but it's 25 Nov so a tad inconveniently squeezed between several other holidays.

[capri0mni]

Indeed.

Mostly though, it should be associated most with play, more than edifying morals. You know?