Elsewhere found poems!!

Hey everybody here is a little post that has found poems from my favorite series. The Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West, whom i recently interviewed.
taken out of their rightful homes, these words are burgled and twisted mercilessly  from her amazing stories, combined with a few strange words of my own and the following found poems are the result.
Her words from the series are part of a story of a young girl named Olive her combatting the sinister powers of the mysterious house she now lives in.


heres a link to an interview i recently did with the author of the Elsewhere series Jacqueline West!

http://www.reachandteach.com/content/article.php?story=elsewhere



I made these first poems from pages 8, 18, 28 and 48 respectively.
They are love poems, unrelated to Olive, I dedicate these poems, except the one from page 28 to my wife Kelly Durham.
poems are numbered by the page they are found from in book one of Elsewhere, The Shadows.

first poem:

Maybe at 8

We are in the darkness where even moonlight cannot reach
we all live inside our own paintings,
sometimes we are in such darknesses

maybe not (page 8 part 2)

while walking slowly away, you look back,
eyes over your shoulder,
darkening

18
shadows on that painted forest path to Elsewhere
the house moaned and whispered
with my head on the pillow beside you
while you fell asleep

28
rid yourself of me

Your response, "don't get too anxious
theres nothing you can do about it"
headed towards the window
personally
I love someone new
as you disappeared
in ripples of goosebumps
the house moaned
forever I am replaced by a soft tapping on the door.


58. verify

hesitating,
we rarely give ourselves any careful attention
but if we do we see things others cannot,
 brilliance all around us
alas, we are all too absorbed to notice
i know we are all beautiful
those are dangerous words,
 am I right?

books not violence

Its been a while since I have posted anything in this blog and there are countless reasons for that, but the main reason I am writing now is I am fed up with and sick of the fear, suffering and violence in our society that is mostly race based evil. 

 The majority of the masses of our society are ruled by fear and/or ignorance. While ignorance is just ignorance, the related fear is based on biases that are founded on brutally dishonest portrayals of minorities. The portrayals of minorities in all forms of media, from film to TV to magazines, to books to music, are found in our homes, our schools, our bookstores, and even our libraries all act to pigeonhole, marginalize and alienate entire communities and normalize the fear of “other” people. To act on such ignorance and fear is understandable yet entirely unjustifiable even with the mind-numbing manipulation that media has in our 21^st century lives. All of this simply discrimination and is criminally unjustified and evil and wrong.

A quick note about percentages, statistics lie and are manipulated all the time. The fact remains that white heterosexual men like me are privileged more then ever these days these privileges need to be addressed. I think the first step is to address the reasons for such privileges. As a an avid reader, I think of how we are taught and what we are taught and what is left out of our lessons especially the books we grow up with both at home and at school influence us deeply for the rest of our lives.  

As a man who lives a book centered life, I have to put a lot of the ownership most ignorance and most fear in all its guises on a complete lack of adequate cultural competence, that is based on insufficiently cultural relevant books for kids of all ages from board books to Young adult books.  This lack of cultural relevancy is based on the misrepresentation and a serious underrepresentation of people of color in the lives of our young people.

While the youth of today are becoming increasingly diverse, and with the fact that many experts agree that with in the next 50 years or so the United States of America will become a “minority majority” certainly adequate representation in all media but especially books, the tool we use most often to teach our children and youth about the world around them, across the board there is a lack of sufficient culturally competent material. How do we expect peace to come to our world if our kids are segregating themselves and their peer groups based on inaccurate biases found in the world all around them?

Recent studies have shown the lack of diversity in children’s publishing as well as the lack of sufficient people working in the publishing industry. Such problems are starting to be acknowledged and remedies are being applied through out the industry. Much like the actions being taken to address systematic racial discrimination are continually evolving in our society, books must stay culturally relevant as well. 

Links to studies:

http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/03/03/required-reading-top-ten-responses-to-the-diversity-baseline-survey/

http://blog.leeandlow.com/2015/03/05/the-diversity-gap-in-childrens-publishing-2015/

http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/01/27/dont-blame-white-guys-book-industry-diversity-problem

Closing remarks

All the violence internal and external that has been sensationalized in the media is simply a reminder of a few things. for me.

1. There is no real difference between human beings. but there is difference in human doings.

2. As they say, Do justice, love, kindness and walk humbly with each other. The golden rule is no joke.

3. If anyone knows what I and what we can do to bring more peace to our world and our neighborhoods let me know.

4. I am so thankful for every chance to be the change i want to see in the world we live in.

5. The question all this violence leave us with is How will you bring peace to your life to your sphere of influence?

Reflections on my SJSU iSchool experience

Reflections on my SJSU iSchool experience

My experience in the MLIS program at SJSU was a long self-exploration just as much as it was an exploration of the library and information science field. My journey through SLIS was also a ‘sneak preview’ of my future path, where I discovered my passions and developed my knowledge and skill base for my chosen vocation, a public librarian.    

I once reflected that, “even when I’m having a horrible day, I find myself in service.” I am passionate about serving people and I have been my entire young adult life.  

I did not have much experience working in libraries except a little volunteering at my old elementary school library during my first year in the program.  Throughout my years in MLIS and especially in certain classes or during two internships while in the program, I gained invaluable experience and skills to help my future goals.  I have also been working simultaneously for over three years at Linden Tree Books, a children’s bookstore in Los Altos.  For two of those years I have worked as a bookseller and one as a manager, and this is why I see great potential in building working relations between public libraries and local independent bookstores.

My enthusiasm, my ability to learn and adapt quickly, and my imagination are all key parts of who I am and are my most clear strengths.  

My professional growth plan

I aim to work diligently on my professional goals:

(1) To provide excellent service for all the publics around me, including careful and curated assistance to all identities and demographics. I will make presentations and create programs to serve everyone I can in the library.  I especially like to organize periodic displays of recent good books in the collection with particular appeal to user subgroups, by age, gender, and ethnicity.

(2) To stay current with developments in technology and best practices through my own research as well as alert membership in public library associations. I plan to take occasional on-line classes, or night classes at local colleges, in order to keep up my skills in this regard.

(3) To evaluate the programs and service at the library where I work using OBPE and SWOT, perhaps every 3 or 4 years.  I’ll discuss the results with my library colleagues, and then work to implement the changes and improvements that are called for.

(4) To explore the great potential in relationships between public libraries and local independent bookstores.  As mentioned in Competency O, I see this relationship as improving community engagement and increasing circulation at both the library and sales at the local bookstore, through such means as special events, summer reading programs, and other shared objectives. I will connect with local bookstores and other pertinent community organizations to improve the library and provide the best service possible.

(5)  I will also document my work towards these goals in a blog, a video blog or, if there is more general value in what I find, perhaps in a few podcasts.

Closing remarks

One chapter of my life is ending, but it is a happy occasion!  That just means that another chapter is still being written.  A chapter that will introduce new characters, possibly a new setting, a new plot, inevitably new conflicts and a number of potential plot twists. My life is an open book and by completing the program at SJSU I have opened up so many new pages. I’d like to thank all contributing authors to my life as a book project.  You know who you are. You have made the chapter rich and fulfilling, and I have deeply enjoyed how the plot has developed to this point.  I love and thank you all so much!!