w o r d . s o u l

sand fantasy

2009-07-29T18:37:00.001-07:00

This is one of the coolest animations I've seen in a while!

2009-06-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 20

A record today which came up including a link, in the field that would indicate an online copy of the text, but which actually pointed to a search on ebay. The book is a collection of award winning high school history essays about the terror of the 1930s, and the hardships suffered by previous generations. The ebay link is a search for swakara coat. That's some sort of fur coat. WTF? This is a field which will not be copied into our library system.

**

Нефтянка [Neftianka], by Валерий Ларин [Valerii Larin]. On the cover: Реальность такова: "нефть" и "кровь" - это синонимы [Real'nost' takova: "neft'" i "krov'" - eto sinonimy/This is reality: "oil" and "blood" are synonyms]. I didn't recognize that the title is actually a word -- it looks like a made up word, to me at least, intimating a oil woman. Neft' means oil, or petroleum, and the ending -ianin [-янин] or -ianka [-янка] is often used for nationality nouns. I.E. россиянка [rossiianka] means a woman of Russian nationality. So a нефтянка would be a woman with a ...personal and political connection to oil.

As it turns out, though, нефтянка is also a word for oil machinery, like oil rigs. In any case, I think it is a novel about the corrupt world of oil corporations...

2009-06-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 19

A (Polish) dictionary of literary scenes. Full of images relating to various tales, as well as explanatory text I cannot read. For instance, Bulgakov's Master & Margarita includes paintings of Christ & Pontius Pilate, photo of Bulgakov, painting of a street in 1930s Moscow, photo of a fellow with horns in a production of M&M, and a painting of Christ on the cross. Hamlet includes various paintings of Ophelia, or the man himself looking thoughtfully at poor Yorick. [ISBN: 9788372664204]

**

A double book: one copy in Slovene, one copy in English. It's about star-children, and I think the translator was mistaken about a word. When the little stars wake up in the evening, "they mince their eyes", which sounds, well, painful. I can't identify any part of the Slovene that this is translated from; the English text is about four times longer than the original as well.

**

Lithuanian folktale explains why cats wash their faces after eating: A cat caught a quick-thinking sparrow, who exclaimed "I never met anyone who ate breakfast before washing their face!" Chagrined, the cat began to wash its face, whereupon the sparrow flew away. Even more chagrined, the cat vowed to wash afterwards.

**

Series of what appear to be trashy paperbacks by one Darya Dontsova (www.dontsova.ru). Very busy covers. Here's one called Две невесты на одно место [Dve nevesty na odno mesto/Two brides for one spot] with one of the many things on the cover being a business card for Ivan Podushkin, gentleman сыска [syska] (detective).

**

Also from Poland: THE PWN GREAT ENCYCLOPAEDIA - how appropriate for this to come out of Poland, which has historically been pwned so many times...

What do they actually mean by PWN? It's an acronym, which I can't specifically find spelled out, but I'm guessing it stands for something like Polski Wydawnictwo Naukowe (except with proper Polish grammar, which I have no grasp of), or Polish Publishers of Science. Except the full name of the publishing house seems to be Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, so who knows?

2009-06-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 18

Today's discussion topic among the media librarians: one of them has got a video of a modern dance production done at Stanford, which is choreographed to represent protein synthesis, and how exactly do you put the right subject headings on such an item, to indicate that it is more than modern dance, and more than a normal visual representation of a biology lecture... They put it up on one of the screens, so I got to see part. The film starts with a fellow in a suit and a tie, washed out colors from 1971. He's got his chalkboard all set up with a diagram, and as he points out each player in the process of protein synthesis, they flash to a still of the dancers who will represent it. You don't have to wait for the media librarians to figure out how to label it, it's already on the internet. Overall, it reminds me of the cellular respiration ninjas.

Back in the Slavic domain, I have "Designers of Novosibirsk (they were first)" by Iu. Shepel'. First though they may have been, they were not assigned an ISBN number, and have no copy.

Also had a book cover with Braille imprinted on it, with the title. The book itself is not printed in Braille, so why did they include it on the cover? Did someone think it would make the book stand out design-wise (yes, at least if you pick it up), or is it just mean-spirited? Imagine the blind man, picking up the book. He is intrigued by the title, and flips it open, and... damn.

("I wonder," says one of the media catalogers, "if it should be performance art, instead of modern dance.")

2009-06-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 17

I spent a while this morning searching for genocide in Abkhazia. I didn't find it, which is not to say that it didn't happen, but rather that the book "Genocide in Abkhazia," is nowhere to be found, though the computer records show it was recieved by the library in Sept 2007. This is so long ago, that it must have gone through the quickcat process already, but it would probably have gone to the basement again. There is an acceptable Library of Congress record we could use now, but it is from Oct 2008, so it wouldn't have been there in spring 2008, when this book was probably handled by a previous student worker. But, apparently they cannot locate it in the basement, so it's an all hands call to look everywhere else.

And why? Some patron of the library would like to read it. It seems ironic. So many of the books I process I wonder if they will ever be read (in front of me just now I have The Philosophical Law of P.I. Novgodtsev, in Russian), and here is one that someone wants, that is in English, and we can't find it!

On a more pleasant note--though also of questionable utility--here is the best subject heading ever: Butter trade ǂz Russia (Federation) ǂz Siberia ǂx History ǂy 20th century.

2009-05-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 16

There was just a PA announcement, which is odd, because you don't think of a library as having a PA system. Anyone in the library just heard that a theft had been reported, and all persons should not leave their belongings unattended.

**

I really can't help it; I always look through the art & photo books. Some that I've seen:

Photo book: Russian 1900-1917. The first photograph: looking from the street at a large building, a shop front, for the artistic photographer M.I. Rumiantsev.

Randomly from the middle: 1911 photo of school children outside their new school building in Archangelsk. Not a single one is smiling. Many are actively scowling. One girl has her arms folded, with a particularly severe look. Later, a photo from Malevich's exhibit "Black Square," showing his art on the wall, the various black, quadratic compositions as they were first viewed by the public.

The last photo: A group siitting at a board room table, a single bulb lamp hanging down above and between the heads of Lenin and Trotsky. Lenin leads towards Trotsky with a grin on his face, he is in on a joke which he hasn't told yet; no one else is smiling.

Another photo book, the 1968 invasion of Czeckoslovakia. It is filled with photos where the only thing I can understand is the grafiti scrawled in cyrillic: "Go home." "Moscow 1800 km -->" "We don't need you. We don't see you. We don't hear you." "Russians go home" "Why are you shooting friends we have no friends" "Ivan go home" "Soviet occupation" "Soviet fascists"

**

PA: "May I have your attention please. A theft has been reported in the library."

Media Librarian 1: Yet again.
Media Librarian 2: Stop walking off and leaving your bags!

**

2009-05-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 15

Today starts with a bunch from a Hungarian publishing house, Akademiai Kiado, in Budapest. Some of their books are in English. I think one pair of books is the same - one in Hungarian, the other in English. But they have call numbers somewhat removed from each other, so either they are not exactly the same book, or the language change moves it around.

Another one in Hungarian, which is about ethnic relations in Transylvania, according to the subject headings. All I can think about is vampires, and how preying upon your neighbors wouldn't make for good ethnic relations.

Sárközi seems actually to be a Hungarian name. I know nothing about the French president, but perhaps his ancestry is from further east in Europe.

I don't know what the name of the Hungarian currency is, but it is abbreviated Ft, and it takes a lof of them to buy a book, so the prices printed on the back look oddly like elevations. 2600 Ft. This book printed at 2835 Ft. Written at 4400 Ft. Best read at 2980 Ft.

Also, I messed up today. The first Russian book after the Hungarian ones, and I added Cyrillic to the record I found, and updated it and then realized that I hadn't really looked at it, I hadn't added a barcode in the book or done any of the things to add it to our system, and furthermore, the existing record didn't have call number so I shouldn't have done anything anyway! I can't assign call numbers.

In case you've been wondering, here's an update on the media librarians: A serious discussion to determine whether an item is this four CDs accompanying a book, or a book accompanying four CDs? The question hinges upon whether the book exists only as liner notes for the stuff on cd. Also, different call numbers are assigned for an item from a public museum than for an item from a private museum, so there was some research into whether Oxford (in Britain) is public or private. Turns out the Brits don't quite differentiate the way we do, but Oxford is about 80% funded by the government, so we'll just presume it's equivalent to public.

2009-04-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 14

In no particular order, books that have caught my eye.

**
Мы дзеці таве, Беларусь [My dzetsi tave, Belarusʹ] (We are your children, Belarus): A photo album of kids in Belarus, from infant to teen, doing a lot of extremely stereotypical Slavic things. In traditional dress, harvesting potatoes, singing, dancing, riding bikes, sitting with cats on top of stove, feeding chickens, peeling potatoes, riding sleds being pulled by horses or dogs. Just one page for riding skateboards & roller blades.

Agresja językowa w życiu publicznym : leksykon inwektyw politycznych, 1918-2000 / Irena Kamińska-Szmaj.
Polish: something like "Agressive language in public [something]: lexicon of political invective, 1918-2000"

"Istoricul tracţiunii feroviare din România"
Three colorful volumes (red, yellow & blue) on the history of railroads in in Romania.

A biography of Maxim Gorky. He is a mustachioed fellow; when I lived in Irkutsk there was a statue of him downtown that I thought was Stalin (also mustachioed) for a while.

Big fat book in Russian on the possible authorship of Shakespeare's work. Who's responsible? Everybody wants to know.

A catalogue of the Tibetan manuscripts and block prints in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciencee, by Gergely Orosz.

Миссия России : православие и социализм в ХХI веке / А.Е. Молотков.
Russian: "Mission of Russia: [Orthodox] Christianity and Socialism in the 21st Century" by A.E. Molotkov. I looked at this one and thought, 'honestly? there is enough going on with this to write a fat book?' and then I remembered I probably don't know as much as I think I do.

Co dělat, když Kolja vítězí / Andrej Stankovič
Czech. Beginning of title looks like, 'what to do', no idea about the rest. Book copyright not the author, but Olga Stankoviča (heir). He passed away in 2001, but he's still being published.

Oh yeah, doing this just on Fridays now.

2009-04-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 13

Today: eroticism, warnings from the media librarians and material goods!

If you read Serbian, and are looking fro something steamy, I just had a book of Serbian erotic fiction.....followed closely by Serbian author V. Jerotić!

**

Fiddling things around on my cart o' books, I dropped a few, attracting the attention of the media librarians.
ML1: At least you didn't drop them on your foot.
Me: Just a few, and they didn't have far to go.
ML2: Have you tipped over a cart yet?
Me: Not yet. I've had a few wobble precariously, but not quite.
ML2: It's sort of a rite of passage.
ML1: That one is pretty stable, though.
Me: The wooden ones seem wobbly.
ML1: You try to turn one of them, and things can go haywire in a hurry.
**

Found inside books acquired through donation:
1) Long personal letter. I asked what to do with it, and it was decided to return it to Slavic librarian in case it is something that should be filed separately.
2) Photograph of man & woman drinking. He is looking down at the shot glass in his hand, eyes closed, she is looking directly at the camera, maybe about to tell you something important. When I asked about this, I was advised to put it up on the wall of my little cubicle. I did. Now they watch me (and the other slavic cataloging student) work.
3) Estonian Easter card. I didn't bother asking about this one, I just took it home along with the day's catch of book covers.

2009-04-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 12

More fun with Polish!

Here's an English language book, published in Poland, on local adaptations and interpretations of Shakespeare. Flipping through it briefly, one case is about a Singaporean modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, called "Chicken Rice War," wherein the unfortunate lovers are children of rival chicken rice vendors. Since everything is on the internet, here's what the film's website says: "It is in the midst of bitter rivalry, close friends and chicken rice that love begins to blossom." http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/crw/index.htm

**

So much Polish today! Here's a book title I would reuse, in my imaginary rewriting of books based on how I think they translate: Dzień przed końcem świata, by Aleksander Jurewicz. Seems like "The Day Before the End of the World" to me. The cover features a 1940s black and white photo of a mournful little boy on a rocking horse, with a equally serious young man kneeling with an arm around the child. Perhaps it is actually a novel about WWII.

**

A subject heading from a Polish book: "Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust"

That's the thing -- spend any amount of time poking around in Eastern European type things, and things start turning up about Jewish history, and the terrible things that happened to them. Not that I can keep track of all the books I've seen, but I can recall two or three just about the extermination of Lithuanian Jews during WWII. My supervisor, who is from Lithuania, mentioned that the financial crisis is bringing up anti-Semitic feelings there, given the stereotypical view of Jews being in charge of the financial system. Oh, and Bernie Madoff's not helping.

2009-04-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 11

Big excitement in Slavic cataloging! I found a book which is missing its last 14 pages. Goodness gracious! It will go back to the head Slavic librarian who orders everything, presumably it will be sent back as a defective copy, and exchanged for a complete copy. This is serious drama!

Okay, not very serious, especially compared to the trials and tribulations I hear the media ladies discussing (half of which have to do with cataloging, half of which have to do with their teenage children or aging parents). But my supervisor praised my eagle eye, and said I should get paid $20 an hour, which offer was quickly rescinded in the face of budget realities.

Budget realities, in fact, are pretty grim. I've also been told that incremental raises for student workers (every 150 hours you get a few extra cents!) are suspended for a year, and heard plenty of talk about how many people will be cut from library staff. No one has disappeared from the section I can keep track of, but there is lots of worried conversations about how they couldn't possibly give up a specialist -- "no one else can do the things I do" sort of thing.

**

The non-financial sad part of this job: seeing really interesting novels that I shouldn't even bother trying to read because it would take me years to get through 510 pages of modern Russian fiction. I only read short story collections, which are infinitely more manageable, but still get submerged by school work. The best story length is under ten pages, really.

2009-04-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 10

...and we're back after spring break, with some disturbing news about linguistic geography: vowel distribution across Europe is strikingly irregular.

Exhibit one. Bosnian book title. "Mrtva trka"
Exhibit two. Lithuanian book title. "Lotynu-Lietuviu"
Exhibit three. Estonian book title. "Eesti Korporatsioonide Liit"

Not to mention that the Poles are hogging all the Zs.
Exhibit four. Polish book title. "Peregrynacje do źródeł : twórczość pisarzy Lubelszczyzny od połowy XIX wieku po współczesność "

2009-03-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 9

Lots of Ukrainian books today, and an update from the media librarians.

Ukrainian publisher. "A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha-Poeziia" No really, that's the name of the publishing house. They have a website. You can preview some of their books, with some very rich illustrations. Looks like they mostly publish children's literature, though the book I'm holding is poetry. Oh, apparently the poet also has authored at least one kid's book.

**

Most Ukrainian authors seem to be named Oleksa. If not that, then Ivan, or Oleksandra.

**

The cataloging librarian who disapproves of online social networking: "Even if I was twenty, I don't think I'd need to tell the world, 'I'm tired, I think I'll go to sleep now.' Who needs to know?"
Cataloging librarian whose daughter's MySpace page is under discussion: "I think it is for her small circle of friends -- they like to keep tabs on each other."

2009-03-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 8

Ukrainian book, on cinematography, with a page at the beginning from the sponsor of the printing-- Yakitoria Japanese kitchen. Yakitoria - tvoia territoria! [Yakitoria - your territory!]

**

Heated media catologuing discussion: A video which is three episodes of the 1950s television show Rin-Tin-Tin, spliced together an rereleased as a film, called 'Rin-Tin-Tin, Hero of the West." Is this categorized as television, or film? Is it an adaptation if the television broadcasts were in black and white, but the film is in color? Was it filmed in color or in black and white and colorized later?

As the internet research progresses, we learn that the official Rin-Tin-Tin website lists filmography by dog.

**

Just saw a book of pretty darn amazing Slovak photography. My supervisor tells me that Eastern Europe has good photography in general, but the Czechs are the best. Haven't seen any Czech photo books yet, but I got the cover from Majstori Hrvatske fotografije [Masters of Croatian Photography] which also had some beautiful pieces in it.

Actually, the cover isn't very cool, it just has geometric designs on it, but I'm kind of collecting Slavic text on various book covers, for a project I haven't figured out. Some sort of collage project, I suppose.

2009-03-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloguing, Pt. 7

I've added some editorial comments to one or two of the previous posts to account for the offline commentary of the native speaker in my life, who is kind enough to correct my silly mistakes. It's probably a long-term strategy to keep me from accidentally saying anything really embarrassing to his mother.

Today: fun with Serbia!

Oct 2, 2006 - the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplimatic relations between the Serbian Principality and the United States of America. Commemorative books were published.

At least, in Serbia.

**

Serbian book on the history of Deligrad. One of the pages in the back, showing pictures of two generals, with captions, has been printed in mirror image. The captions are backwards. Flipping through, no other mirrored pages jump out.

**

Return of the Politics of the Serbian State Series -- two more books came through my hands from this very confusing series. I guess on the ordering end it's probably hard to tell quickly if we already have Book I Part 1 Number 2....

2009-03-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloguing, Pt. 6

Things you may not have known about the layout of slavic books: the table of contents is generally at the back.

**

Book entitled "Bogastvo je v nas" (Slovenian). Nas = us. Bog = God. Bogatstvo = riches (in Russian). Subtitle, "iz dnevnika novodobnega milijonarja" (something like 'from the journal of a modern day millionaire'). Publishing house, "Divine Touch Publishing." Is this a book about God and Us, or Wealth and Us? You decide!

Also, inside it is laid out like a high school text book. Lots of pictures. Maybe it is a get rich quick manual?

**

Book on Mari mythology. Random sentence (my translation) from p. 261: Mari people believe that it's best to talk with the souls of ancestors at the place of their death: the prayer will be heard.

**

Russian book: Oral history in Karelia, vol. 3: Finnish occupation of Karelia (1941-1944).
Karelia (aka Karjala) is ethnically very close to Finland; I don't think the Finns view it so much as an occupation as much as a brief repossession of what ought to have been part of their country, except that Russia has always been bigger, militarily. And the Finns have learned to be diplomatic and neutral.

2009-03-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 5

The library code for Emory - EMU.
The library code for Cornell, whose records I have been strictly instructed not to use for our database -- COO COO.

**

Latvian children's book, illustrated with photos of driftwood assembled into fanciful creatures. I really ought to bring my camera. Here's an image of the cover. It is called Mazgalvīši spēlē mājās, by Pauls Bankovskis, which is funny for me because my elementary school was named Paul Banks, after a man who had been the janitor, but also wrote children's plays, one of which was enacted by the school each year at Christmas.

**

Media librarians daily discussion topic: Marshmallow peeps.
A package of "tulip-chicks" has appeared on the communal snack table. Someone is quick to check the peeps website and discover that 1) they make "chocolate mousse" flavored creations and 2) the same company is responible for Mike & Ikes, Hot Tamales, etc.
On the website, they proudly list the fact that the number of peeps eaten at Easter could more than encircle the earth. Personally, I think they are mistaken in assuming that they are eaten.

2009-03-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 4

The books in languages I can almost understand make me want to do some sort of grand project, like Ezra Pound, who translated Chinese poetry without knowing Chinese, but extrapolating from the idea that the ideograms originate from visual representations of something. To pseudo-translate these Eastern European novels into something entirely different and new, only slightly connected to the original work. Start with what the first page might say, to my understanding, and go from there. Or just the title.

Here's a good one in Slovenian. "Sanja in Samostan" I presume Sanja to be a person, and Samostan to be a place. But maybe Slovenian "in" isn't equivalent to English "in." Maybe it is equivalent to "and", "or", or "of." Perhaps Sanja is a place, and Samostan a person. Or both people. Sanja and Samostan.

Сам [sam] means 'self' in Russian, and perhaps in Slovenian as well. Sanja is probably a short-name for Alexander, or Alexandra. Sanja and Samostan. Best friends since childhood. Samostan is a big fellow, strong and trusting. Sanja is the scrawny one who gets them into and out of trouble.

Then again, саня [sanya] also means 'sleigh.' The sleighride to Samostan. But Samostan sounds like a desert place, or a jagged mountain place, that would be hard to get to by sleigh...

Here's another option: самостоятельный [samostoyatel'nyi] means independnt, self-reliant, literally "self-standing." Sanja the Independent. It's a political novel, about a dissident. Or it is satirical, a harshly ironic tale of a the young man who becomes part of The System, despite his belief in original thought. Or the independent sled. Sanja is actually the name of a factory, making sleds, and the tale is told to show how the people involved in sled-making fare with the fall of communism and the rise of independent business. Samostan is an allegorical location where all must be self-dependent, and no long rely upon the state to provide things like pensions for them.

[Ed. --The native speaker in my life informs me that саня [sanya] is rarely, if ever, used in the singular. It's always сани [sani]. But he agrees with "samostan" bringing self-reliance to mind.]

2009-03-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 3

[I was writing these notes out for a week or two before I got around to posting them, which I only mention because this one is dated.]

In the aftermath of the grammies? Oscars? I'm so out of touch I'm not sure which awards ceremony just happened, but now the media librarians are discussing which films are in the collection so they can add the appropriate tags for the winners. Wait, there's the conversational cue -- the Academy Awards. Did I mention I am out of touch with popular culture? My weekend included Javanese shadow puppetry, a concert in a catholic cathedral, and the fiftieth birthday of my martial arts teacher. Plus schoolwork and kitten time, of course.

**

One Latvian publisher, Dienas Grāmata, has their books marked as printed on paper from mixed sources, as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

**

I hear my supervisor and the other slavic cataloguer talking. "...and she'll ask, if she has any questions." Next thing I know, I'm looking for copy on a stack of books from the other cataloguer's shelves -- a stack of books mostly in German. And a few in English, like "Love Me Turkmenistan", a brightly colored photobook illustrating the personality cult built around the former Turkmenistan dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, who proclaimed himself Turkmenbashi -- father of the Turkmen -- and, among other things, renamed months after himself and his family members. Of the first eight books, there's only one with copy I think we can use, but it is a large series, and the screen is filled with a palimpsest of isbn numbers for the individual volumes, then a confusing bit of contents field. Pretty sure, though, that the individual title of this volume is "Texte der deutschen Tischgesellschaft". Text of the german something. I know that "bruderschaft" means brotherhood. Tischgesell-hood. I use an online dictionary to check Russian words I don't know, and it says Tischgesellschaft means общество [компания] за обеденным столом, which is to say society (company) at the dinner table. The social interactions during meals. That group of friends you always sit with in the cafeteria.

2009-03-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 2

this morning starts with polish. actually, it starts in the sub-basement, filling up the cart with new books to check through. We're up to last August, only seven months backlog to work through! Last time I went to the sub-basement there was a crumbling newspaper on a table near the stacks of slavic orders. It was a Seattle publication from 1904 or so, and had a front page story decrying the fact that the price of vegetables increased far more than the cost of transport between eastern Washington and Seattle. How could they possibly charge so much more, when it certainly costs less than a cent, per item, to bring them from Yakima?

**

The first polish book I find copy for has the author's face inside the back cover, right where I need to put the barcode. She has crooked teeth, and is drinking a cup of tea, so I carefully place the barcode over her forehead, just above her eyebrows.

**

From a string of Bulgarian books:
--Book printed in Blagojevgrad -- probably where a certain former governor's forebears came from. Insert your own Bulgarian/gipsy joke here.
--Title: Diplomatic records on the ruination of Bulgarians from Macedonia and the region of Edirne in the times of reforms 1904-08

**

Here's a great name: Ладыженская [Ladyzhenskaya]. For those of you unfamiliar with slavic languages, "zhenskaya" also means lady.
Also, Безносикова [Beznosikov] -- no socks.

[Ed. --The native speaker in my life helpfully reminds me that носки [noski] is socks, but носик [nosik] is a diminutive of нос [nos], or nose. These are the kinds of non-native mistakes that are easy, and silly to make. TNSPIML once commented on someone's sedimentary lifestyle (meaning sedentary), and my mother once explained in Russian that my younger sister was seven o'clock (семь часов) instead of seven years (семь лет). Anyhoo, it's more unfortunate that way - I'd rather be without socks than without a nose.]

**

Russian-Chinese Customs Dictionary -- customs, as in border-crossing customs.

2009-02-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

I'm working at the university library this quarter and next, as a "slavic quick cataloger." New books come to the library, go sit in the basement, and six months later the quick catalogers (there are two student workers in my position) catch up to them. We look the book up by their call number, and if another library has entered its information in worldcat, we copy it to our catalog. But only if it is a library which is trusted to enter it correctly.

So I'm seeing a ton of books from all over Russia and Eastern Europe, and overhearing conversations from other people working in the library's cataloging section. I started keeping notes of the interesting bits, and I keep meaning to carry in my camera to document some of the covers and such, but so far I haven't remembered.

Notes from Slavic Cataloging, Pt. 1

here's a useful book?
Information science and processing vocabulary : Estonian-English-German-Russian
Mostly I was just intrigued to see that this exists.

**

A dissertation published (in English) by the Institute of Mathematics, Polish Academy of Sciences, "Cooperative guards in art galleries." It is mathematical models of how many people are needed to be able to see everything in art galleries of various shapes, and also how to have the guards all be able to see each other, in case one is disabled.

**

funny name:
Институт этнографии имени Н.Н. Миклухо-Маклая [Institue of ethnography in the name of N.N. Miklukho-Maklaya]
Миклухо-Маклая!! [Milukho-Maklaya]

**

today's discussion topic among the 40-ish media librarians (as in their age, not that there are 40 of them) - going to "geezer" shows as older people and no longer wanting musicians to take off their shirts.

2nd topic: this book is about green cemeteries.
lib. 1: if you want to be green, why don't you just get cremated?
lib. 2: they bury them without the coffin, and not too deep, so they can contribute to the soil.
lib 1: do they have anything to keep the raccoons from digging them up?
lib. 2: they say they haven't had any problems with it, so far. no bear has been intrepid enough to exhume anyone.
lib 1: but they're still taking up space. once you're dead, you should get off the earth.

**

there is something seriously wrong with mathematical education in Serbia. I've just added to a series called 'documents on foreign politics of the Serbian crown 1903-1914' (at least that's the best I can gather from Serbian) the following books:
vol. 2, part 4, no. 1
vol. 2, part 4, no. 2
vol. 2, supplement 2

"volume 2" is at least ten separate books! Seriously! They are also labeled by both old & new calendar dates*. I'm postulating extreme counting issues in the Balkans.

*if you're not familiar with the old & new calendar concept, it has to do with the followers of Russian Orthodoxy not switching to the Gregorian calendar until early twentieth century.

2009-02-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

The thing I like about Seattlest (my fair city's local blog) is that they quite often have awesome posts about food. Then I can go and make it, and it is tasty. Hooray!

Meyer Lemons
Lemon Curd
Crepes(unfortunately I've missed this year's Crepe Day...)
Edible Book Festival (I'm totally going to this!)
Xiao Long Bao
Pumpkin pancakes for day after Thanksgiving

2009-01-31T23:11:00.000-08:00

Have you seen a wordle yet? They keep popping up lately, so I've been playing with them. Here's what I get when I feed it a bunch of stuff from the last year worth of this blog, various emails, my resume and some of the essays I wrote to get into grad school.

I think "one" is probably something the common word filter should have pulled out, but obviously doesn't.

Basically, my life goes like this... "So, like, this one time, in Seattle? I met this one Russian, and then also I went to school with all these people who like being around water and marine things." That's my current life, in one reduced form...

2009-01-19T14:37:00.001-08:00

Don't worry America -- help is on the way!

2008-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

Addendum to wishlist:

6. Gift certificates to yarn.com -- feed my habit :)

7. Avoid material goods altogether. With the economy in official recession, funding for non-profits is down, just when they need the money most to help hold society together and do all the wonderful support things that non-profits tend to do. Here's some non-profits I would be happy to know had received some support:
Planned Parenthood
People for Puget Sound
The Center for Wooden Boats
Seven Star Women's Kung Fu
grist.org
American Field Service
The CAIR Project