10. Studies say people who read literary fiction perform better on tests measuring emotional intelligence and empathy. This does not surprise me. The New York Times has a “Can you read people’s emotions?” quiz, where based on eyes alone you guess the emotion. I scored 34/36. It’s fun.
9. Everything Jonathan Franzen hates. We all know this could be longer, but it’s a decent sized list as it is. I do agree with him on Jennifer Weiner though.
8. As discussed in my last post, I’m not fond of librarian stereotypes (or stereotypes in general). Rhode Island Librarian Association is attempting to change this by releasing a Tattooed Librarians of the Ocean State 2014 calendar. As every youngish librarian I know has a tattoo (or several), I don’t know that this is particularly bold, but maybe to the outside world it’s eye-opening.
7. I love Bob Dylan. Truly. While I may not have reached epic proportions of fandom (and never will, despite #8), I have a healthy respect for the man. I named a blog about literature after one of his songs, I think he’s an amazingly talented lyrical genius. That being said, I snort/laugh (very ladylike, of course) every time someone suggests he should win the Nobel Prize for literature. I wouldn’t be appalled by a Dylan win, certainly much of what he’s written could be considered poetry, but he’s not my first, second, third, or fourth choice…
6. My body temperature is approximately that of a yeti’s, assuming a yeti is very, very cold. I casually touched a friend this week and he promptly screamed “Jesus Christ get your hands off me”. In public. It was the highlight of my week (and something every girl loves to hear). (Mildly related: does touching/teasing/laughing/being fully engaged in a conversation automatically mean flirting? I say no, but this article made me think a bit more about my actions.)
5. I’m considering doing a video/vlog post. I don’t know why, maybe for the challenge of being outside my comfort zone? Thoughts? Opinions? Have you done one (if not, would you)? Or do you value at least a little anonymity?
4. As much as I love helvetica (and I seriously love it), this is still one of my favorite short imagined monologues (even though it’s old).
3. Do you ever cringe when you realize you have a typo somewhere in you’re post that you missed while editing? I hate when that happens. Feel better about yourself, because no matter what it is, it’s probably not as bad as these. Although as a lover of bad puns, I appreciate #27.
2. I am taking a break from sewing the curtains for my October #pinitdoit challenge to type this up. I’m feeling very domestic and accomplished (not a feeling I often achieve). I’m also ignoring the fact that I’d been sewing for about 4 minutes before I decided to abandon the project to write this instead.
1. I wish I had a good update on my library progress, but I don’t. I finished painting, framed my vintage print of The Smiths and War Is Over (if you want it), and sanded my card catalog. As previously noted, I’m sewing curtains and I ordered this lamp re-purposed from an actual laboratory stand (the science nerd in me is rejoicing).
As usual, blame Christine as Bookishly Boisterous for whatever amount of time you just lost reading through my list (I love you for it though!). I have the best of intentions (which pave the road to hell).
Image found here.
flannel and folklore 
10. 35/36
9. Don’t know where I sit with the Franzen/ Weiner thing (and they’ve been at each other for years). I often think the things he accuses her of, he is also guilty of and vice versa…
8. Where’s yours?
5. Do it. I wouldn’t (because not organised enough). But you should. Can’t wait! Through in a tour of your renos while you’re at it.
3. Is that why you left out a no. 7 this week? 😉
2. Am SO impressed that you can sew. It’s one thing I outsource (even the simplest of tasks).
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10. Nicely done you emotionally-cognizant, empathetic face reader.
9. I don’t like Franzen, I don’t like Weiner. I actually don’t care for writers who suffer from the “look at me, look at me” syndrome.
5. I’m seriously considering it. There’s nothing better than embarrassing oneself (except referring to yourself as oneself, got to up the level of pretentiousness).
3. Yes, totally…not. I did do something for it though. 8 and 7 were supposed to be tied together (and are now). My brain is fried this week, it has nothing to do with me answering comments at 2:07am… 😉
2. I definitely made that sound more important than it is. I’m making flat panel, no pleat, unlined curtains. Not impressive…(though for me it really is, give me a hammer over a needle any day.)
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28/36 for me! Which is not too bad, and that was kind of fun. (Although I think that literary fiction / empathy study is ridiculous.)
I feel like based on The Corrections, I could make a good list of “reasons I hate Jonathan Franzen”. Blech.
You should do a vlog! I’ve done them, and enjoyed them, and want to get back into doing them… but I’m kind of waiting until we have a better laptop. Just having my new phone makes me realize how old our laptop is and how much better quality a vlog would be if we had a newer one.
Painting and sanding and framing and sewing? You are the MOST domestic right now! I can’t remember the last time I actually sewed something
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I agree. I think people who read literary fiction might be more apt to be interested in being empathetic, but I don’t think it’s necessarily something the comes from reading literary fiction.
Jonathan Franzen. For someone who dislikes most traditional forms of social media, he certainly never shuts up.
I might. I do worry I’ll look like a 15 year old idiot with lots of awkwardness.
I prefer the term badass handy(wo)man. 🙂
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“Do you ever cringe when you realize you have a typo somewhere in you’re post that you missed while editing? I hate when that happens.”
Bravo, just bravo.
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Thank you. I was a bit worried that it would be missed and I really enjoyed putting that in there (and wanted it to be appreciated).
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This whole post is like daffodils in motherfucking spring. Ha!
People love to hate Franzen. I don’t agree with everything he says, but I agree with some of it and I like his books. (I especially agree with him about Weiner. Blerg.)
Thank you for these laughs first thing the morning. This was a great way to start my day.
(The condom truck dumped its load. Heh.)
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Thank you! That actually makes my day, I feel my sense of humor is appreciated by .2% of people (and probably not even that many).
I find both Franzen and Weiner annoying. I say that they are in another back and forth dispute. They need to give it a rest.
And you’re welcome. I aim to please.
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Thank you for #3- started my morning off with a big smile!! But why does Rachel Ray have to eat her dog??? I love that!
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You’re welcome. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who finds it funny. 🙂
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There is nothing quite so lovely as a person screaming at you to stop touching them in public – as long as it’s a friend it’s hilarious 😉
I’m with you on Bob Dylan; musical genius and wonderful poet, yes, worthy of a nobel prize….eh.
I’ve dabbled trying vlogging – I’ve finally found the perfect place to put my camera so I may try again – if I can get rid of the dead behind the eyes look. I say you should go for it, you can always make one and set it so only certain people can see it on youtube and they can give you feedback.
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It was great. I was probably the shae of a tomato, but I couldn’t breathe I was laughing so hard.
I can’t decide if I want to do a vlog. I’m such an awkward person and I can hide that a bit on my blog. There’s no need for me to scare anyone away! That being said, I still sort of want to try it (I must be a moschist).
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A tattooed librarian calendar? That’s so clever and definitely bucks the norms.
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I like the idea of redefining the image of librarians and I flipped through some of the images. I’m glad they’re trying to break the stereotype.
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I enjoy Weiner on Twitter but don’t like her writing. I love Franzen’s writing but he seems like a tool.
Vlogs – I might do one, for the same reason as you, to challenge myself. But I hardly ever watch them, because I catch up on blogs after the kids go to bed. Gotta be quiet.
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Weiner-Franzen, I’m rather meh on both of them and consider them each obnoxious in their own special way.
I do okay with short vlogs (like 5 minutes or less, when it’s over 8 or so minutes…not going to happen unless the person is charming and fabulous and taling about the most interesting book in the world). If I do one, I expect you glued to your screen. 😉
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omg wouldn’t that be awful if they had a child and their last name was Weiner-Franzen… that’s just a terrible last name…
I will watch for your vlog! Maybe you’ll inspire me 🙂
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I’ve considered doing a vlog of the Visual Editions books I have but I HATE hearing myself so it hasn’t happened yet. But you should do it! Lead the way!
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No matter how many times I go over something, there’s still that odd misspelled word that I miss, lol (and yes, I do physically cringe when it does happen). But LOL at that link you posted with the unfortunate publication typos and placements (the Russian layout with the missing pictures was especially amusing) xP
I never thought about doing a vlog before (an audio entry once years ago when I was tagged in a language meme–sadly never got around to that) but it looks like fun!
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I think you should do a video post, if you want. I always proofread my content, but I do cringe when I read spelling mistakes in other blogs, I recently stopped following one lady, because every single of her posts have errors in it. Some of them have never been corrected, which I think she should have done by now.
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