PSA #42

[ladybranwen]

It is certainly one of the most tantalizing things in the world, to be kept in weekly, nay, daily expectation.

This is mostly aimed at philosphercat and shawk, because I have decided to change over my NaNo journal from last year (annie_davidge) and make it my research journal for the Davidge family. So here is your chance to defriend it before I start boring you with what I find exciting and interesting facts about the family! Run and save yourselves now. Well, hopefully that will keep all of my thoughts in one space and spare you all from my historical dorkiness excitement.

I plotted this out in my tech class this afternoon. In my defense, we were learning about blogs and wikis at one point. I also didn't get my test back; he had just started to look at them, and said we should get them back within the next two weeks. Joy. Personally, I wish he would just keep it. So much better that way, blissful ignorance!

AS was really off his game today. He had a family emergency and it was really quite alarming. I mean, in expensive DIALOG mode, he was making lots of little errors. We were worried for him.

We had some really interesting reference books to go through today. Take for instance Current Biography Yearbook 2004 which claims to "provide reference librarians, students, and researchers with objective, accurate, and well-documented biographical articles about living leaders in all fields of human accomplishment". But then, instead of having world economic leaders like Bill Gates, we had people like Colin Firth and the group Outkast. Huh? Living leaders? I mean, I love Colin Firth, but he is no leader in acting. Unless he leads the British literary film actors guild. Cause, yeah.

Then take Dictionary of American Biography for example. It included no living person, you had to be dead by 1920, and considered more than just merely average or a typical American. There was no room for you in the 20 volumes in that case. So all I could do was picture lots of Americans who thought they were important killing themselves off in 1920 so they could be included. Maybe that's why it is twenty volumes long. I did learn that John Beale Davidge's first wife's name was not William as the will stated but Wilhelmina. I'm not sure what is better. The funny thing is that she was Scottish.

Contemporary Artists included Nancy Spero. Nobody knows her here, I bet, but she had an exhibit at our school's art gallery my first year working there. One of her art installations included a clothesline that had Sheelas and some underwear on it. My co-worker Jess plotted out ways to steal a pair so she could say she was wearing art. Alfred Leavitt, lecherous 102-year-old man, was not included. He went after undergrad students when he was visiting our college at the age of 90-something!

And lastly, reference questions for decken, cause you know you love them!
1. What is the range of motion of the thumb (flexion) in degrees?
2. In August, 55 BC, Caesar first invaded Britain. What information can you find about the catapults used against Britons on the beach.
3. What information can you find on biblical lamps?
4. Where could one find an article on monitoring neuromuscular blockade?
5. What are some methods of parlimentary obstruction?
6. Could you please find the notation for the first theme, second movement of Shostakovich's Symphony #5, Op. 47?
7. What is the function of the magistrate courts in Britain?
8. Where could one find a discussion of Arthurian illuminated manuscripts?
9. We often hear the Pew Charitable Trust mentioned on NPR. How many employees does it have?
10. What are the ceremonial robes of the Lord Mayor of London and what occasions are they used for?
11. What were some of the popular songs of 1941?

There you have it, a day full of reference. Yay!