Zenformation Mail 2006: Happy Holidays, Bitchy Librarians, Porn, and Veteran Reader's Advisory

* NOTE - These are e-mails I've received via the Zenformation Professional. I reserve the right to NOT answer questions about my personal life but may answer them privately. I will only post e-mails and responses that specifically ask me to post a response; however, no advertising or hotlinking will be allowed. E-mail text is unedited (other than identifiers) and some content may be objectionable to some folks.

- Jason,

AKA The Zenformation Professional

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM A READER:

Iv never written before but i just wanted to wish you an happy holidays and thanks for keeping my roomate and i entertained last semester. i see you [on the Miami U. campus] all the time and never made the connection until i saw you in b-dubs. do you know i've never met anybody who reds your site? lol...i guess i'm smart enough to figure out that you're a real librarian. i hate facebook too. wow...i need to get out more. anyway i'll buy you a beer next time i see you Uptown.

- OXFORD, OHIO, Jan. 2, 2006

Well, I'm not surprised you haven't met anybody here in Oxford; only a handul of people probably would admit to reading a blog anyway :) Hey, thanks for reading and looking forward to the beer. - ZP

LIBRARIANS AND ADULT ENTERTAINERS...

hey i know where you work and was wondering if this porn chick has ever been to oxford to see you? two guys in my frat claim swear they saw a chick that looks just like somebody they've seen in a porno with some student worker from the [my] Library at Starbucks. was that you? are you going to be like doing this porn chick? dude i'd be all over that shit. What do other ppl at your work think about it?

- CLEVELAND, OHIO, Jan. 3, 2006

Hmmm. Not exactly a topic at meetings at work - at least meetings I'm attending. No clue if my colleagues know and I really don't care. Thay probably wouldn't care one way or another. There's a rumor mill at every place of employment; I have, however, heard several rather bizarre ones about me recently. (I've apparently slept with half the MU population - undergrad, grad, faculty, and staff.)

Yes, "J." has visited Oxford a few times. And yes, she has a taste for Starbucks. Maybe. Oxford is an extremely tiny place. As for "doing" anybody, if you've read for a while, you probably realize I'm not going to answer one way or the other. - ZP

ONE PISSED-OFF LIBRARY READER:

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say that I will be dropping you from my bookmarks folder at work. I find your behavior an embarrassment to the LIS world and representative of everything that's wrong with our profession. The things you write about have no bearing on my professional life and do absolutely nothing to improve the image of librarians and library staff. While other LIS and NexGen bloggers are writing about real issues, you write about hanging out with exploited women, trying to get laid, and political issues that have no bearing whatsoever on library advocacy.

I must say I'm extremely disappointed with the direction this site has taken; it had definite promise. Instead of advocating serious issues and providing much-needed insight for NexGen librarians, you choose to link to college students and talk about your musical tastes.

- LOCATION WITHHELD, Dec. 31, 2005

Wow. That was harsh. Let me say that there are many library-related uses for web tools like blogs, Wikis, and the like. But, honey, if you think I started this blog back in May to somehow better the image of librarianship or to serve as an outlet for preserving the L-World's status quo, then it's probably for the best you're removing me from your bookmarks.

I'll go on the record here and say that I think that L-World bloggers like Kendrak's Attack, Library Bitch, The Hot Librarian, Library Tavern, The Well-Dressed Librarian, the Subversive Librarian, DIY Librarian, and the other "personaprofessional" blogs I list in my Blogroll are probably more in touch with the holistic nature of the information sciences than the majority of librarians. Let me also go on record as saying that when Katrina hit last year and devestated libraries and museums across the Gulf Coast, it was L-bloggers like Rochelle at Racoon+Tinfoil who put aside the everyday library bruhaha to help get information out faster than the professional news agencies.

Librarians and staff are human beings, first and foremost. We all have our interests outside of work. My life is my life. You forgot to mention that I also post on information poverty, something that is obviously out of the realm of mainstream librarianship. - ZP

STUPID "REPUBLICAN" PAWN???

I find your recent post endorsing right wing zealot/con-artist Kathleen Parker to be another example of how the NeoCons are attempting to discredit progressive blogger journalists. How is pushing your Republican agenda any different from what the Progressive Movement is pushing? We have children dying in Iraq and pushing this kind of biased attack makes you nothing more than a pawn of the GOP.

- HOUSTON, Jan. 1, 2006

You don't read this blog often enough. When did I become a pawn of the GOP? Is there some new Extreme Left massive hallucinogen no one told me about? As for "Progressive," "Conservative," "Liberal," etc., journalism...welcome to the new guilded age of the party press.

For the record, um, I'm not a Republican. And yes, there are children dying in Iraq. Unfortunately, I think politicos on the Right and Left seem to have forgotten that there is a whole world of killing going on around the world, in places like the Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nepal, Central America, etc. And, in the U.S., the wealthiest people in the world, continue to make funny faces at each other based on political leanings, fiddling like Nero, watching the rest of the world go to hell. - ZP

IRAQ WAR VET SENDS SOME LOVE:

dude thanks foor giving me the link to your web page. please feel free to repost this. this is really neat stuff. it was so nice talking with you in Cali the other day. hope you made it back in one peace.i can't believe how much you've changed and i can't believe how odd it was running into you the other day. saw some slotown whacko called you mr. johnson lol. thanks for the coffee and letting me vent a bit. it sucks getting back to the states and having ppl want to judge me for serving my country. i want to screa sometimes when i hear some of the bulklshit stuff going around. like i said, unless you been there you don't know what its really like. i served my country to make the world a safer place. i'm not going to criticize the government or anything but coming back to a country full of whiny liberals and batshit conservatives who don't give a flying mionkeyfuck about the people who volunteer their lives to keep them safe to bitch. i know it was a while ago and i'm sure you don't remember me but i'd love to have something along the lines of what ou said to send to some buddies of mine. PS I haven't been able to put down that book you recommended. youre right i needed some perspective. we havent always been this fucked up...or maybe we have.

- LOCATION WITHHELD, Jan. 6, 2006

Man, hanging out with one badass Iraq vet was probably the highlight of my trip! Talking to you reminded me of why nobody should ever forget the men and women who serve their county. Hope you had a safe flight as well. I'd never turn down such a request - will post sometime this week. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. You may also want to check out Joseph Ellis's His Excellency and Founding Brothers. - ZP