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PROGRAMMING NOTE from the Author and Archivist


So obviously I just stopped blogging on this platform. I'll get back to it eventually. Or not. I'm taking a break from all social media. It seemed necessary for my mental health.

The last few years have been busy and … challenging:

- 2015 Happened.
- 2016 Let's call it The Lost Year. (Obviously words failed me.)
- 2017 about broke me. Literally. Mentally.
- 2018 was ridiculous, proving 2017 was just a warm up. (Good thing I was already broken so it couldn't hurt as much.#2018TrashCanFire I thought things were going okay, but maybe not?)

- 2019 was such a blur. I know there were highlights, but then stuff happened and carried into the next year...

- And then in March#2020 really took a turn. Who can even categorize 2020? Do we dare?


I kinda want a do-over of some of the last few years. But life doesn’t work that way.


So for now, I'm hunkering down. Regrouping. Trying to stay safe and sort some stuff out.


Stay safe everyone. Stay well.

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Word of the Day - Scrouge

Today I've finally learned the official word for the heck that is my commute on the subways, thanks to my daily reading of Shelf Awareness, an e-mail newsletter for the book trade (i.e. librarians, book sellers, publishers, etc.)

From the new book:
Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea ($21.95, Perigee, 9780399533983/0399533982, June 3, 2008)

Scrouge (v.) To inconvenience or discomfort a person by pressing against them, or by standing too close.

"For passengers on modern transportation everywhere, this word has tremendous and unfortunate resonance. It falls firmly within the category of words that one wishes one did not have occasion to use on a daily basis but are fascinating nonetheless." - Marilyn Dahl


I love reading this e-mail every morning. Not only do I find out about very cool bookstores, but I can find out about new publications from my favorite authors, learn about media appearances, and occasionally score Advance Readers Copies or Galley Proofs of new books before they are published. I took about seven of these ARCs on vacation with me, and have enjoyed passing them along to family members and colleagues to help introduce them to new authors. You get to read a book BEFORE it hits the bookstores, so you can be in the "know." The only drawback about the e-mail, it introduces MORE books for me to add to my ever increasing To-Be-Read list.