Meh!

I guess that sums up my mood at the moment. Not because there has been a lack of activity, mind you. Work (that humdrum 9-5 desk jockey routine thing 90% of people in the developed world put up with as a means of giving an economic meaning to their lives) has picked up considerably in the last two weeks, thanks largely to the tail end of the ‘settling in’ period of my new line manager (well, my line manager’s manager), a woman concerned first and foremost with the bottom line for our department. What can our department do to save time and money (besides replacing all of us by nice automated units, though that has not gone undiscussed)?

You would think it was the high stakes world of corporate finance, but it is just a library.

You know, books, old ladies shushing people, studious little nerds and geeks seeking sanctuary in the hallowed grounds of the bibliotheke amidst dusty old tomes of forgotten knowledge.

And oak wood paneling everywhere.

Except libraries nowadays are not supposed to be that anymore.

Nope.

No Sir!

Libraries are all singing, all dancing, all prancing spectacles of social media interaction and multi-layer mobility.

The new age librarian is all about the constant tweeting of short, banal, often overused phrases or quips they saw on someone else’s twitter account without cross checking; or about face booking with people who ‘like’ the library page because the FB page is so much more interesting than the actual process of LEARNING; or  ‘instagraming’ photos and selfies of themselves at the library, attempting to convert it into a hip, happening place where trendy bearded hipsters with sleeve tats, early 20^th century hairstyles (NOT haircuts, NEVER haircuts!) and tight jeans can sit whilst sipping a decaf soya latte in a 100% made from recycled cardboard cup  and using their iPads to look at the latest trending issues.

You can guess by the writing I’m a bit of an old fashioned, bitter gentleman who likes his libraries happy yet quiet and filled with heavy yet surprisingly non-flammable books (yes, traditional libraries are notoriously difficult to set fire to. The paper is stacked up so tightly in the books and shelves that oxygen, one of the three ingredients for a fire, cannot get in between to promote combustion. Yay for science!)

But I digress.

My new boss’s boss has had us doing assignments to gauge the effectiveness of the electronic service delivery platform (fancy and elitist way of saying: electronic catalogue). Said service, it should be said, is rubbish.

We knew it before the tests.

But we need to collate, quantify and analyse copious amounts of data from various different groups in order to present an accurate representation of the bugs inherent in the system.

Basically we are testing it until it breaks.

Not a difficult thing.

The side effect of this and having another line manager (parallel to my team but not directly ours) suddenly start handing us his overspill to complete has meant that my writing has ground to a standstill.

And it is annoying the granola out of me.

While I was working on The Cicada and the Deep, Deep Dark, and while I was working on the overarching storyline that CDDD originates from I was happy.

Yes, I do not say that word often when I refer to work.

I was happy.

Not just content.

There was a feeling of progression. A sense of purpose and action coursing through me that fueled me and built a gentle yet constant momentum.

A very happy feeling.

I appreciated me.

Sounds vain and egotistical, I know.

But it is an immensely invigorating and rejuvenating feeling to have, self-appreciation.

Not to mention quite humbling.

Anyways, I am once again ranting.

I drew a map about two weeks ago, just as the whole circus of the free promotion was about to start.

It was a lovely little map of the island where the Children of the Star Forest come from.

I even coloured it and tried to make it look like one of those fancy fantasy maps.

Only it looked like a 5 year old drew it.

But I did not mind.

The map made something magical happen.

It gave the story a sense of location. Maps are special in that way. They give us something concrete to envision.

Mind you within an hour or so of drawing it, inking it and colouring it I had changed my mind with regards to about half a dozen things regarding topography, elevations and locations.

Ah, well. Such is life.

It’s still a very nice little map.

I think I shall go have another look at it and start drawing those changes. 

I might even share it here later.

:-)