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This title sounds fancy but mostly I needed to play catch-up and this seems like the best way to do that. Hi. In the past month I’ve done two public speaking type things that went well and some other stuff. I’ve been remiss in sharing them in a timely fashion. So now I’m sharing them in a list fashion.

• I went to Mississippi for the MLA Conference which was a great time. I led a facilitated discussion pre=conference which is the first real time I’ve done something like that. You can read the slides here: The Digital Divide and You which includes input from the discussion part of the afternoon. I stuck around for the conference and was very glad I did. I put some photos up here. Thank you MLA, the Mississippi Library Commission and especially MLA President Amanda Clay Powers for showing me a good time.
• VLA hosted a table at VT’s first annual ComicCon. This was a hugely fun event and terrific for library outreach. We had free stickers and reading lists, a display of banned graphic novels and people could get their photos taken in our “Vermont Comic Reader’s License” booth which netted a ton of delightful photographs (more on facebook). We also sponsored one of the special guests — Dave Newell, Mr. McFeely from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood) and he did storytime at the booth with puppets. I staffed the table one of the days. Such a good time. Huge shout-outs to other planners: Helen Linda, Sam Maskell and Hannah Tracy.
• Another MLA! This time the Massachusetts Small Libraries Conference (also the “first annual”) and I was the keynote speaker talking about how to Future-proof libraries. A combination of talking about what the challenges and unique positions small and rural libraries are in as well as some ways to nudge people towards getting interested in the online world. Notes and slides here. Big thanks to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners & the Massachusetts Library System.
• I started writing for The Open Standard, Mozilla’s new online-writing thing. My first article, After Some Victories, the Time Has Come to Legally Define ‘Fair Use’, has been up for a while now. I’d love to know what you think.
• Also I’m not sure if I was explicit in my “I’m moving on” post about MetaFilter but I’m still at least somewhat looking for work. I love Open Library and my local teaching but I’ve got a few more hours in my schedule and would be happy to do some more speaking, some consulting or some writing. I have a one-pager website that summarizes my skillset. Feel free to pass it along to people.

I gave a really quick “How to do an elevator speech” talk after lunch at MLA (the one in MA, not the one in MS) and it was really fun. All librarians should practice their elevator speeches. Here’s my one slide from that talk. You can probably get the gist of it.

Welcome, folks. Lazy summer days abound, hence I'm keeping it short. I'm calling this one "Kraft" because of Kraft macaroni and cheese -- you know, the comfort food in a box. Add milk and butter. For some reason almost no kid will object of KM&C. So what in the heck does that have to do with writing? I think the familiar is something important to understand when writing books. I think there is a place for stuff outside our experience, but I also think it is important to be aware of what makes childhood magical, personal.

I think the magic of childhood is discovery of the familiar through new eyes. I'm young at heart. I still like to play, pretend, and imagine. I'll never grow to old to make a mud pie. To be an effective writer for children, you need to open up to the child you were. Go back in your memory. Pick an emotional moment in childhood. Whatever comes to mind? Happy. Sad. Excited. It doesn't matter.

What does matter is what was closest to the surface in your memory. That memory tells you a lot about what you should be writing about. Take some time and really put that memory on paper. Write about every detail, interior self and exterior world. When you are finished take the same scene and try writing it from a fictional point of view. I hope something exciting happens. Happy writing.

I put this doodle up in celebration of this year's ComicCon. I call this one "SuperHero Eggs".